Strange Magic
by BookWriter2014
Summary: The guard had tried to warn them, that ancient dagger was dangerous. They should have listened. Now Belle must find a way to help Mr. Gold who has been burdened with a terrible curse, not only to save her employer but also all of Storybrooke. But how can she save him when the only thing that can break the curse is true love, and the curse's hold on him is only growing stronger.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

Magic. Belle had always been fascinated by the very idea of it. During her childhood, she had always begged her father to let her go see the magic shows, where men and women would preform the strangest of things. And if there wasn't a magic show, she would either be found at the library researching magical relics or at the museum seeking out the most interesting objects.

Of course, by the time she had turned eighteen and gone to college, she no longer believed that such a thing could exist, but she still found the stories and endless legends fascinating. It was one of the many reasons she had come back to Storybrooke Maine to become a security guard at the local museum.

She enjoyed walking the halls alone at night, often imagining one of the statues or wax figures coming to life and chasing after her. She knew that it was just tricks of the light, or more often the shadows, it still made her job more adventures.

On this particular day, Belle was waiting in the main lobby of the museum when a security guard came in, holding a wooden crate in his arms, a worried frown on his face.

"Ah, so here it is at last," Mr. Gold said, clasping his hands together from where he stood beside Belle. He was a small man, dressed sharply in black slacks, red dress shirt and a purple tie. He had shoulder length brown hair, and deep chocolate eyes. But it was his bad leg and ever present cane that was most associated with the thirty-two year old man. Mr. Gold was Belle's boss, and owned the museum as well as much of the town.

"Where do you want it Mr. Gold?" the security guard asked.

Mr. Gold turned and motioned towards a room in the back, "Put the crate in the backroom, I'll have them put it out on display when I'm finished repairing it".

"Yes sir," the guard said and quickly did as Mr. Gold instructed.

Belle followed the two men into the back, and leaned against the doorway while the two men went over the contract.

She found herself more than a little curious as to what was in the crate, the museum hadn't had any new displays for several years now, which meant that whatever lay inside that crate was truly something special if Mr. Gold had wanted it for the museum.

Perhaps it was a relic from ancient Egypt, her employer seemed fascinated by those, especially ones with legends behind them. But then again, he himself was fascinating, or at least Belle thought so.

The man had a reputation as the town monster, and though she knew him not to be a bad man, Belle also knew that no one got that kind of reputation by accident. But she had always found it rather amusing to see people practically trembling when the man came around, despite the fact that he was a slight man, and a crippled one at that. Mr. Gold had used a cane to walk for as long as Belle had known him, and probably had long before that due to his lame leg.

"Alright, that's everything you need to sign, so if we're all good here, I'll be taking my leave Mr. Gold," the security guard said, all the while clasping the clipboard with the forms on it to his chest.

"Yes, yes, that's all," Mr. Gold said. He dusted off the top of the crate and was about to open it when the guard cleared his throat.

Why is he so nervous? Belle wondered, noticing the man's nervous figiting, and the way his eyes flitted from Mr. Gold's form to the crate.

"Mr. Gold, you are aware of the legend yes?" the guard asked tentatively.

Belle frowned, the poor guard looked about to pee himself. But it wasn't just that that worried her, it was the fact that the guard felt the need to remind Mr. Gold of the legend associated with the item.

Mr. Gold looked up and scoffed, "Do I look like a fool dearie? I'm well aware of the legend of the Dark One's curse, and you'd be a fool to believe in such things".

Finally Belle was unable to contain herself any longer, "What curse?" She held Mr. Gold's gaze defiantly when Mr. Gold looked up at her with narrowed eyes, obviously annoyed.

Her boss opened his mouth to contradict her, but the security guard instantly jumped at the chance to warn them again.

"The Dark One's curse is attached to an ancient dagger," the security guard began, motioning towards the crate, "According to legend, if someone cuts themselves on the blade and their blood touches it, they become the host to the curse, which causes them to change in horrible ways. It gives them the power of magic, very powerful and dark magic, and it slowly warps their mind until they become nothing more than a monster".

Mr. Gold snorted, "As I said, anyone would be a fool to believe such a thing". He motioned with his cane for the guard to leave, an irritated look on his face, "Now if you excuse us, we have work to do. Ms. French, please escort him out and then attend to your duties".

"Alright," Belle sighed, and led the nervous wreck of a man to the front doors. Right as she opened the double wide doors and started to shoo him out, the man grabbed hold of her arm, and whispered in a fearful tone:

"Be careful Miss, that blade is a retched thing. Even if your employer has yet to see its horrid power, it will bring this town nothing but misery". The man then went outside and ran towards his vehicle, which glowed silver in the light of the full moon.

Belle watched him until he had pulled out of the parking lot, then grabbed her keys and locked the front doors, and then placed the keys back in her pocket and turned around, ready to start her rounds about the museum.

The main lobby was a huge circular room, with the front desk in the middle, with a few displays littered around in random spots. Just behind the front desk was the marble staircase that led up to the second floor. Belle decided that she would start up there tonight and then work her way down.

The second floor resembled the main lobby, only it had a dozen doorways at the back of the main room on the second floor that led into different parts of the museum.

She started her round in the room on the far left, nicknamed the Egypt room, due to it being filled with just relics from Ancient Egypt.

She checked to ensure that all of the mummy cases still held their mummies, and that everything else was in place, including all the ancient and very exotic jewelry that Queens and kings had once worn.

After the Egypt room, she went into the three prehistoric animal rooms, then the African Hall, American history, Japanese and Chinese culture, and the European history, and ancient relics room.

By the time she was making her way down the stair case to the first floor, she had forgotten all about Mr. Gold staying late in the backroom on the first floor to restore the Dark One's dagger. So upon hearing the sound of a person's footsteps coming up the stairs below her, Belle drew her tazer out of her belt and pointed it in front of her, and turned her flash light off to avoid giving away her position to the intruder.

When she saw the shadowy form of a man just in front of her, she lunged forward and turned her flashlight back on, pointing the beam straight in the man's face, and waved the tazer to ensure the intruder got the message to get out.

But the moment the flashlight beam hit the man's face, she realized the intruder was actually Mr. Gold, who had been going up to the second floor to put the dagger on display.

Almost immediately, the man stumbled back in alarm, accidently dropping his cane and fell back on the stairs.

Belle lunged forward again and grabbed his hand to keep him from falling any farther down the stairs, but as soon as she did so, he cried out in pain.

When she had grabbed him, he hadn't dropped the dagger, and having her hand crushed against his had pressed the sharp blade of the dagger into his palm, drawing blood.

Luckily he dropped the blade, and she was able to help her boss to his feet, hoping desperately that he wouldn't fire her over her little mishap. Belle was clumsy by nature, and she didn't want that to cause the end of her career as a night guard.

"Watch what you're doing you clumsy girl!" Mr. Gold spat, his eyes blazing with fury. He shook himself and then leaned down to pick up his cane and the Dark One's dagger.

Belle grabbed her flashlight from where she had dropped it on the floor, and placed her tazer back into her belt, freeing her left hand. She scowled at the man, and retorted, "If you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have shone the light in your face".

He glared at her and huffed, "Well, now thanks to you, I have to clean the dagger, go get me a wash cloth from the back room and meet me in the ancient relics' room," he snarled at her, and continued up the stairs.

"You need to go down to the backroom anyway to get your hand bandaged Mr. Gold, you could be hurt badly," she scolded him, which caused the older man to halt on the stairs.

He turned around and glared down at her, "Then go get it Ms. French since you're the one that caused the clamity," he sneered, and then stalked the rest of the way up the stairs.

Belle glared at him for a moment, hating how stubborn the man was, and then ran down the stairs and into the backroom to go get his needed supplies.

She grabbed a washcloth, and wetted it before wringing it out. She then grabbed the medical box and stormed back up stairs, easily finding Mr. Gold in the fifth room from the right.

He was standing by an empty display case that hung on the wall, the dagger in one hand, while his other hand rested on the golden handle of his cane.

Belle stalked over to him and handed him the damp cloth, which he immediately used to clean off the dagger, before he placed it in the display case. Mr. Gold was extremely careful not to let more of his blood drip down onto the dagger while he cleaned it.

While he did this, Belle crouched down and dug through the supplies in the medical box until she found a roll of sterile bandages and the triple antibiotic. She then stood up and grabbed Mr. Gold's injured hand, causing him to glare even more fiercely at her, but she ignore him and bandaged up his hand.

Having taken care of the man's injuries, Belle placed the bandages and triple antibiotic back into the box and picked it up, turning around to find that Mr. Gold was starting to walk out of the room.

Just as he reached the threshold of the doorway, He turned and called over his shoulder in his usual sneering tone, "Try not to cause anymore damage dearie, or I'll have to replace you". Then, he walked out of the room.

Belle folded her arms and scowled, listening to the fading sound of his footsteps and the tapping of his cane. When she could no longer hear anything, she turned and glanced at the dagger before beginning to walk out of the room herself.

She stopped dead in her tracks, and then looked back at the dagger. She moved closer to it, so that her nose was only inches from the display case and stared wide eyed at the blade.

She could have sworn that there was nothing but odd patterns on the blade of the dagger, but now she could see that written in curvy, ink black lettering was the name Rumplestilskin.

 _I hope you guys will enjoy this fanfic; the next chapter should be up soon._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Mr. Gold groaned, and slapped his alarm clock, effectively shutting off the world's most annoying alarm.

He rolled over onto his side, and whimpered, curling up into a little ball. His head was pounding, and his blood felt like it was on fire. His bad leg, which normally did hurt, felt ten times worse. Rather than just the aching pain that accompanied his injury, it felt like someone was stabbing him over and over in the muscle of his leg.

His injured hand, where he had cut it last night was positively throbbing in pain. But that was to be expected seeing that he had cut it on a rather sharp blade that hadn't been disinfected before the accident.

He pulled the covers over his head, whimpering again. It just hurt so bad and he had no idea what could have caused it. After all, he was only thirty-two he shouldn't be feeling this kind of pain from just landing on his rear end the night before.

Perhaps he should take a sick day? No, he was the fearsome Mr. Gold, no matter how much every part of him hurt he would get up and stalk the town with a scowl on his face. Besides it was rent day for the bigger establishments around town such as the library and the church.

He threw the covers off of him, and slowly rolled out of bed. His bad leg locked up the moment he put his feet on the floor, so he had to struggle across the room to his bathroom, where he spent the next ten minutes struggling out of his clothes before hopping into the hot shower, which to his relief, eased the pain greatly.

By the time he got out of the shower, he was feeling like his normal self. He limped over to his closet, a towel wrapped around his waist, and entered it.

He picked out a red dress shirt, his usual black slacks, a simple waist-coat, black jacket, and his usual gold cufflinks. It was today's tie that caused the most problems for him, he couldn't decide between the dark purple one or the dark green one. In the end, he went with the dark green one, and ended up leaving his house two minutes later than he normally would. It didn't matter much though, he was always early anyway, so he wasn't late, even on today.

In his driveway, he unlocked his 1993 black Cadillac and got into the drivers' seat. He started the car, closing the door behind him.

He drove out of his driveway, and stopped just before the road began looking both ways to ensure no cars were coming. Just as he was about to pull out, his vision slid out of focus, making everything blurry.

Panic gripped his heart in its icy grasp. He'd had perfect vision all his life, why was this happening to him?

Then, just as quickly as it had happened, his vision restored itself, and he was able to see everything clearly again. With a nervous shake of his head, he pulled out onto the road and headed for his pawnshop.

"Don't forget to put out the comfy reading chairs for the children, I don't want Mayor Mills to have any reason to complain about the library not doing anything to make the school children's visits extra special," Mrs. Potts, the town's librarian said from where she was standing behind the circulation desk.

Belle nodded, and ducked back into the storage room, dragging out two fluffy purple reading chairs with her as she came back out.

For the last two years, Belle had been working at the library in the mornings and afternoons, since the Museums' curator, Zelena Green had put her on part time. Another words, she only guarded the museum for the first part of the night, and then was replaced by another guard.

When Belle had complained that this was unreasonable to Ms. Green, Zelena had told her that if she didn't like the way the museum was run, then she could go complain to the museum's owner, Mr. Gold. For as long as Belle could remember, Mr. Gold had entrusted Zelena Green to run the museum's basic operations, though he was still the one to hire/fire and to obtain or trade new items for it.

Belle had shut up about the situation after that, she didn't want Mr. Gold thinking her to be a whiny brat.

Despite her fury over being switched to part time at the museum, she appreciated the new opprotunites it provided her with at the library. After her fascination with magic and history, reading was her absolute favorite thing in the world, and being able to work at the library was amazing.

Belle dragged the two fluffy and very comfy chairs over to the children's part of the library, which was on the south side of the building.

She set them up in the reading corner, a small corner of the children's section that had a train sofa, child sized of course, and two small round tables with chairs where the children could sit and read if they chose to.

When she was satisfied with the way the area was arranged, she went into the library employee's break room to fetch the cookies she'd baked before going to work at the museum yesterday, and brought them out onto the table. She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote in big bubbles with a sharpie, Take only one please.

Upon hearing the front doors open, and the excited giggles of children, Belle hurried to the front of the library where she was greeted by the sight of one of her best friends, Mary Margaret herding her class of twenty-two third graders, including Mayor Mill's son, Henry, into the library. It was library day for the school.

"Hey kids!" Belle greeted them cheerfully, and the children almost immediately responded in kind, shouting hellos and good mornings to her in their insistant way.

"Let's go check in your books from last time ok? Then we'll read a story and let you guys pick out new books, alright follow me please," Belle said, and happily led the line of children to the circulation desk, where Mrs. Potts took over, allowing Belle time to chat with her friend.

"So how's the class doing?" Belle asked as the two women watched the kids help Mrs. Potts check in their books. "Not too rowdy today I hope".

"No, they're all hyped today," Mary Margaret said, smiling, "But I can't blame them. Henry's birth mother has gained partial custody of him, and they all feel like celebrating".

"You mean deputy Emma Swan? Wow, that's great news. Is she happy for partial or is she going to try and go for entire custody you know?" Belle asked, seeking out the form of ten year old Henry. Henry was one of her favorite kids that came to the library, despite his adoptive mother's dislike towards fantasy worlds the kid was an avid reader.

Mary Margaret's smile grew bigger, but she shook her head, "No, she's happy with partial custody. I think Regina only backed down about it because Henry wanted to have both his mothers in his life. Though what he sees in Regina is beyond me. But then again, he's about the only person she's nice to."

"You mean besides Mr. Gold? Not that she can't be a jerk to him too," Belle said.

"Mm-hm," Mary Margaret hummed in agreement.

After the kids were done checking in their old books, Belle and Mary Margaret led them over to the children's section where Belle had them sit down in the chairs or on the reading rug where she read them a quick story, before they went to go find some new books to take home.

Everything was going great, just as it always did in Belle's opinion, but then the bell beside the door jingled, announcing the presence of the one person she really didn't want to see at the moment. Mr. Gold.

She was still angry over how he had claimed it was entirely her fault that he had cut himself on the museum's new artifact, the Dark One's dagger last night before they'd both left.

"Don't let the Beast ruffle your feathers B," Mary Margaret told her as Belle made her back to the front to confront the man.

It was amazing really how scared the town really was of him, considering he was a slight man, who was always well mannored during dealings and was entirely dependent on a cane to walk. Although Belle never saw the cane as his handy-cap but instead more of an accessory that he was never without.

"I'll be right back with your money Mr. Gold," Mrs. Potts said stiffly towards the man, before she stalked into the back room where she kept the library's rent. Which mainly came from the donation box.

"Mr. Gold," Belle greeted him, folding her arms across her chest while she leaned back against the circulation desk, resting her feet from her killer high heels.

Compared to her night guard uniform, Belle's library outfit looked highly professional. She always wore a nice shirt, and a nice skirt or shorts, with jeans in the winter.

"Ms. French," he said politely nodding in her direction.

The sound of child footsteps coming out of the children's section caused them both to turn in time to see Henry stepping out of an isle, grinning broadly.

"Hey Papa," Henry said, and ran over to the town's most feared monster, and gave him a quick hug, which Mr. Gold returned rather happily. Though it was short, Mr. Gold didn't like showing affection towards anyone in public. Though inside the library it seemed to be the exception.

Belle, along with most of the town, didn't have a clue as to why Mr. Gold didn't have full custody of Henry. He was in fact, the boy's blood father, but for the first two years of Henry's life, hadn't even known the boy existed. It wasn't until after Regina had adopted him, and they'd done a DNA testing that they learned Mr. Gold was Henry's father.

However Belle still couldn't see Mr. Gold and Emma together being lovey dovey. Every time she'd seen the two together, they only exchanged a limited amount of words, and even then their relationship seemed slightly strained. In Belle's opinion, Mr. Gold had a better relationship with Regina, who let Henry stay with Mr. Gold on occasion, then with Emma, who also let him spend time with Henry.

"You're coming to see our school play right? You promised, do you still mean it?" Henry asked, tugging a little on the older man's free hand, while his other clasped the handle of his cane firmly.

Mr. Gold smiled, his eyes softening like they did everytime he was around Henry, "Yes, of course I'm coming, wouldn't miss it for the world," he reassured his son.

"Great," Henry said, his entire face lighting up, "I'll see you later than Papa!" The boy gave him another quick hug before running back over to the children's section in search of a few new books.

Mr. Gold looked over at Belle, and having caught her staring, he scowled, and snapped, "Finished staring? Or am I just that fascinating to look at?"

Belle snorted and looked away, "Hardly," she muttered. It always surprised her how easily he could go from a loving father like he behaved when he was around Henry, to town monster and harsh landlord.

It was probably one of the reasons she had never had much of a problem working for him, because she had seen a different side of him everytime he was around his son. Sometimes she wished she could peel back more layers of his armor to find out just who he really was.

Mrs. Potts returned with the vanilla envelope bulging with money, and handed it to Mr. Gold who politely thanked her and started to make his way out of the library when suddenly he stopped.

Belle frowned, "Mr. Gold?" she asked, wondering what he was doing.

Suddenly, the man dropped the envelope and started clawing at his throat, making soft rasping noises.

Is he choking? Belle's eyes widened in disbelief. How was he choking? He didn't have anything in his mouth that he could swallow!

Mr. Gold stumbled back, and then fell flat on his back, foam dripping down from his mouth. He started twitching violently, his eyes wide, and his breathing shallow.

Hoover Dam! He's having a seizure of some kind!

Belle stared at him for a moment longer in disbelief, then raced for the phone and dialed for the ambulance, while Mary Margaret and Mrs. Potts kept the kids busy in the children's section and away from the sick man.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Belle paced back and forth in the hospital lounge, waiting for the nurse to come in and tell her if Mr. Gold was ok or not.

For the last two hours she had been waiting, pacing around the hospital lounge.

A slip of paper with Henry's phone number was gripped tightly in one hand, and her iphone in the other. After the ambulance had arrived and the kids were going to go back to the school, Henry had made Belle promise to call him and tell him if his father was ok or not as soon as she knew, and had proceeded to give her his number.

The clicking of high heels coming down the hallway towards the room alerted Belle to the nurse's presence before she actually came into the large room. To Belle's relief, Mr. Gold was walking behind her, looking slightly dazed and off balance, but apart from that he appeared perfectly fine.

Belle made her way over to them, and asked Mr. Gold, "Are you ok?" in a concerned voice, her hand gripping the slip of paper in her hand a little tighter.

He scowled and readjusted his messed up tie, "Of course I am, I was just a little dehydrated was all". He furrowed his brow, and Belle realized that he was confused as to why she was even here for. "What are you doing here anyway Ms. French? Shouldn't you be at the library?"

"Ms. French was the one who called the ambulance and rode over with you. You should consider yourself lucky that such a fine lady was concerned over your well-being Gold," Dr. Wales commented as he walked over to them, clipboard in hand.

"My well-being is none of her concern," Mr. Gold replied stiffly.

Dr. Wales turned to the nurse, saying, "Amanda, please inform Mr. Gold over possible ways to keep from becoming dehydrated to the point where he passes out, I need to discuss a few things with Ms. French here".

"Sure Dr. Wales," Amanda nodded.

Dr. Wales turned to Belle, and gently brushed his hand against her arm, gesturing to follow him. They walked a littles ways away from Mr. Gold and Amanda, before Dr. Wales turned back around to face her.

Dr. Wales flipped through a few pages of paper on his clipboard for a moment before he looked back up at her, saying softly, "Ms. French, earlier I had a few of the nurses go over your schooling records, and from what they gathered, you took a medical class in college while you were learning your major, is this correct?"

Belle frowned, but nodded, "It is, but why were you looking up my files?"

Dr. Wales sighed and rubbed the side of his face with a hand and glanced back at Mr. Gold and the nurses before turning back to Belle, a worried and stressed look on his face.

"Because," he said, "Mr. Gold didn't pass out because of dehydration, and that's the problem. We can't find anything wrong with him. I thought he might have passed out as a mental issue or heart attack, perhaps a stroke. But when we checked for absolutely any signs and called you from his hospital room to verify the symptoms he showed, we thought it might be poison, but after five checks of his system and blood stream, we found no trace of any poison. Truthfully, he's healthier than he's ever been; even his bad leg's starting to finally show signs that he may finally recover from it and have use of his leg again. And that's what worries me. He shouldn't have passed out like that for no reason, that's why I want you to act as his temporary medical security guard."

Belle's eyes widened in surprise, "But don't you need his approval and permission for that?" she asked, unable to believe that Mr. Gold would agree to such a thing when he believed it was dehydration that had caused him to pass out.

Dr. Wales shook his head, "No, medical security is assigned to patients of interest like Mr. Gold by the hospital. And as of right now, you're the most qualified for the job. You're capable of defending him as well as yourself should it be because someone has attempted to inject something into his system. And if he begins having medical issues, you will be able to handle that better than most of the security guards in the town".

Belle sighed and folded her arms across her chest. "If I agreed, and I do mean if, what would I have to do? I wouldn't have to give up either of my jobs would I?"

Dr. Wales shook his head, "No, but every evening before you went to your job at the museum you'd have to stop by his house and go through a series of exercises with him, like walking in a straight line, having him lift his arms to see if one droops, see if his speech is slurred, basic stuff like that. The hospital is required by law to assign a medical security guard to any patient of interest, just to ensure that a new type of rabies or anything similar to it, isn't happening to that person. It's just protocol".

Belle pursed her lips and nodded, "Ok, but how would you explain that to him?"

Dr. Wales gestured towards Mr. Gold, saying, "Today we just let him go home, and then in the morning we call him and let him know of the circumstances. We're not supposed to let patients of interest know about their situation, not since the one who went nuts with fear and tried to kill his guards. So, will you do it?"

"Yes".

"Ok, thank you. Your job starts tomorrow. You're to go over to his house at exactly two PM. We'll call you later to tell you his address. And thank you again for this doing this Ms. French, it's a huge favor for the hospital," Dr. Wales told her.

That night, Belle went out with her good friends Ruby and Mary Margaret to the rabbit hole. They were going to meet their friend Ashley, who had just gotten engaged to her boyfriend, and they wanted to celebrate before they told anyone else.

Belle laughed as she watched Ruby and Ashley dance around on the dance floor, both having had too much to drink.

Mary Margaret and Belle had agreed to not drink any alcoholic beverages so that they could drive Ruby and Ashley home without incident, plus Belle had to work later that night at the museum to cover the second night guard shift of the night.

"So," Mary Margaret said, turning to Belle in her seat, "Is Mr. Gold ok? Henry said you called to tell him that his dad was ok".

Belle stirred her straw in her hot chocolate, and nodded, "Yeah, he's ok. He was just—"

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Belle nearly jumped up in alarm as her cell phone went off.

Must be Dr. Wales calling to tell me Mr. Gold's address, Belle thought to herself as she motioned Mary Margaret to be quiet.

She picked up her phone from off the table and answered it, "Hello?"

"Hey Belle, this is Gaston, you know the other night guard at the museum? Listen, I've got some really bad news . . . "

Belle's eyes widened as Gaston told his tale, and her heart pounded in alarm and fear of how angry Mr. Gold would be.

The Dark One's dagger was missing.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

It took Belle only a few minutes to race over from the Rabbit Hole to the Storybrooke museum, both were in the downtown part of the city.

Sheriff Gram and deputy Emma were already there, talking to Belle's fellow night guard, Gaston Hoovers. When they saw her pull up into the museum parking lot, Gaston waved her over, a worried look on his face.

When she walked over to them, she saw that another man, Mr. Dove, another employee of Mr. Gold's, the one who usually collected rent for the man, was standing next to Emma, talking to her.

"What happen Gaz?" Belle asked, folding her arms across her chest, all to aware that she was wearing just a knee length blue dress and heels instead of the jeans and pollo shirt she wore during work.

"No idea," Gaston said, shaking his head unhappily, "I arrived at the museum to start my shift, but when I went up into that room on the second floor, the dagger was gone and the case was broken. Went through all of the video files from the security cameras and well, I'll show you".

He hand her the laptop he'd been holding and she opened it and brought up the security camera files, before letting Gaston click on the file they needed.

The video popped up and when Belle pushed play, it showed the room where the dagger had been located. At the beginning of the video it showed that the dagger was still in place but then, a split second later a giant cloud of purple smoke billowed out from in front of the dagger's glass case.

When the smoke cleared, the glass case was broken and the Dark one's dagger was gone. Pieces of broken glass littered the floor.

Belle closed the laptop and folded it under her arm, before looking up at the sheriff. "Does Mr. Gold know about what happened?" Belle asked.

Mr. Dove nodded, "I called him, he'll be over as soon as he's done with his rounds".

Emma raised an eyebrow at this, "Rounds? He does his tax collecting at seven o'clock at night? Since when?"

Mr. Dove frowned and shook his head, "No, just today. He had a bit of a situation earlier that demanded his attention more than his tendents".

"Do I even want to know?" Emma asked, but then shook her head, and headed towards the museum's front doors. "I'll go scan the perimeter again to see if we missed anything from our earlier search".

"Radio me if you do find anything," Gram told her, then turned back to Belle and asked, "Mr. Hoovers told me that you were with Mr. Gold when the museum received the dagger. Can you tell me why anyone would want to steal it?"

Belle shook her head, "No, Mr. Gold would know more about the dagger's worth than me—wait, no, when the museum received the dagger, the delivery person who brought it in warned us about having the dagger. He might have known someone was going to try and steal it. Mr. Gold would know his name"

Gram scribbled something down onto a notepad with his pen, saying "Thank you Ms. French, we'll let you know if we get any leads".

"Speaking of leads," Gaston said, watching Mr. Gold pull up into the parking lot with his black cadilac.

A moment later and Mr. Gold stepped out of his car and walked over to them, not using his cane nearly as much as he normally did.

"Hello sheriff, I hear something of mine is missing," Mr. Gold said in his sophisticated Scottish accent, an annoyed look on his face.

"Mm, yes, according to your night guards, the Dark one's dagger was already missing when Mr. Hoover arrived to do his nightly shift," Gram said, looking up at him.

"It seems you've been having the worst luck of late," Belle commented, folding her arms across her chest.

Mr. Gold looked over at her, a strange gleam of mischief in his liquid brown eyes that she'd never seen there before. He shrugged, saying rather softly, "Yes, well, I'm a hard man to love," before he looked back over at sheriff Gram.

Belle was about to reply when Mr. Dove tapped lightly on her shoulder. When Belle looked back at him, he gestured for her to follow him.

Belle followed after him, and they walked a few yards away from the others.

"What do you need?" Belle asked when the big man turned to face her. Mr. Dove glanced over at Mr. Gold before turning back to her.

"When we're out collecting rent in the morning, I'll take phone calls for Mr. Gold, and this afternoon, Dr. Wales called, and let me know that you'll be joining him at two at his house from now on, because you're going to be his med. Security".

Belle nodded, "Does he know?"

Dove smiled and nodded, "He took it pretty well all considering. But then again that may be because his twelve year old son is old enough to choose which parent he lives with, that parent now being Mr. Gold".

Belle did a double take. He has another son? Just how many affairs has he had? Belle wondered. Doesn't that man believe in true love? Or did he just like bedding women?

Her face must have shown her slight disgust because Dove almost instantly added as an after-thought, "Baeden's from his first marriage, I don't know how he ended up with Henry though," he said rather quickly.

Belle looked over at their employer, who was now deep in conversation with Gram, and Emma, who'd recently come back out of the museum to rejoin them.

Mr. Gold's brow was furrowed in worry, a spark of irritation in his once sparkling brown eyes. His mouth turned down in a frown of slight anger.

"I didn't know he was married," Belle commented, still watching the police, Mr. Gold and Gaston talking.

Dove shrugged, "He's divorced now, been for several years. Anyway, I suppose I wanted to say just to keep an eye on him. He's been acting . . .," he paused as if unsure of what to say then continued after a moment. "Strange, and I don't know if that's just because his eldest son is coming to live with him or not. But either way, it makes me nervous".

Belle nodded in agreement; Mr. Gold was now lazily swinging his cane just a tiny bit, his body posture more relaxed than she would have thought for a man who's just learned that his museum's been robbed.

But Belle couldn't blame him if he was just now getting to see his son after years of separation because of custody. But then again, she couldn't help but wonder if his strange behavier was being caused by whatever had caused his fainting episode earlier.

"Don't worry I will be," Belle told him before they rejoined the others.

They reached them just as Gram was thanking Mr. Gold for his help, and promised to call him as soon as they learned anything.

The two cops started towards their cruiser, but Mr. Gold stopped Emma, grabbing her arm before she could get into the squad car.

"May I speak to you for a moment Ms. Swan?" he asked politely, letting go of her arm to motion her away from Gram.

Since when did someone call their ex by their surname? Belle wondered. Though she desperately tried not to easedrop, she ended up hearing more of their conversation.

"Is Henry staying with you this weekend?" he was asking.

"Not this weekend no. You'll have to talk to Regina about letting him spend the night. Anyway, heard what happened at the library—" Emma started to say.

"It's none of your concern," Mr. Gold snapped.

Belle was almost relieved to know that he still had his fire that everyone had always feared and respected him for.

Emma raised an eyebrow at him, looking more annoyed than anything, "Yes, but it's my business if you have another episode while Henry's with you," she replied and walked away.

Belle snorted, and shook her head, "You're not much of a people person are you?"

Mr. Gold turned to her, a sneer on his face. "No, and I don't need a bloody caretaker either Ms. French," he sneered; a glint of fury in his eyes.

Belle huffed in agitation. What was with this man and mood swings? She wondered.

"I'm not a caretaker technically, I'm going over at two each day to make sure you're ok, its what medical security does. The hospital asked me to," Belle snapped.

Mr. Gold waved his hand dismissively, "I'm well aware Ms. French. Besides I won't even be at my home at that time anyway, so it's completely pointless."

Belle sighed in frustration, reminding herself that Mr. Gold was probably upset by the strange news that one of his employees was going to be visiting him every day to run him through a few exercises. It must be making him nervous, and that she could understand.

Belle put her hand on her hips, saying stubbornly, "Then I'll be seeing you at your shop then Mr. Gold. Good day".

Belle could feel Mr. Gold scowling at her back as she walked away from him and towards where Gaston was standing, getting ready to go back inside and finish his shift.

When he saw her walking towards him, he grinned widely and said, "Hey Belle, you remember Will right? That blonde man that was with me when I came to the library to return a few books?"  
Bell nodded, "Mm-hm, what about him Gaz?"

Gaston rubbed his hands together nervously, "Well, he wanted me to ask you if you would go out on a date with him this Friday?"

Belle bit her lower lip, thinking, "On Friday I can't. I've already made plans with the girls, but tomorrow night I don't have any shifts at the museum so I'd be able to do that then. Would that work you think?"

It wasn't that she was particularly interested in Will, though he seemed nice enough. It was more that her friends had been goading her into going on more dates since Mary Margaret had started dating David Nolan.

Gaston's smile grew even wider, "I'm sure that would work, I'll let him know. He'll come to the library apartment and pick you up".

"Ok, I'll consider a date then," Belle smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

The next day, at exactly two O' clock Belle went over to Mr. Gold's pawnshop and antiques, the very place where Mr. Gold spent much of his time.

Belle had never been inside of his pawnshop before, though she had passed it literally almost every day on her way over to Storybrooke's local museum.

Like its owner, the fairly small shop was quite pristine on the outside and easily demanded any passerby's attention.

When Belle ducked inside, a bell stationed by the top of the door jingled, announcing to Mr. Gold that someone had entered his shop.

Belle's eyes widened in surprise as she took in the interior of the quaint shop. Two long counters were stationed on either side of the room, about four feet from the walls where shelves were stuffed with little nick nacks. Another, though much smaller counter was positioned at the back of the room, with maroon and black curtains hiding the back of the shop from view.

"What can I help you with dearie?—" Mr. Gold popped out from behind the curtains, an annoyed look spreading across his face when he reconized her. "I was rather hoping you'd have forgotten," he muttered as he stopped behind the counter.

Belle shrugged, a little annoyed with his snide comment, but walked over to where he was standing beside the counter, hands tucked into his pockets.

To Belle's surprise his usual cane was nowhere to be seen. In fact, when he stepped out from behind the counter, following her to the center of the shop, she saw that he, for the first time since she'd met him, was walking rather than limping.

She turned around, blue eyes widening, and just stared at him, until his voice snapped her out of her daze.

"Are you going to stare at me all day dearie? Or are we going to get this little session over with?" Mr. Gold snapped, folding his arms across his chest.

Belle snorted, "I thought you needed your cane to walk Mr. Gold. I didn't know you could walk perfectly fine without it. It just took me by surprise is all". In all honestly, Belle thought he was going to sneer at her again, but to her shock, he laughed.

He raised both hands up in a flourished gesture, an impishly smile on his face, and a mischievous twinkle in his brown eyes. "Magic dearie," he giggled, his voice oddly high-pitched, and lacking his usual Scottish accent.

Belle raised an eyebrow at this, unable to hide her smile when he pointed his index finger and wagged it back and forth saying in the impish voice, "I met a magically unicorn and stole his horn and used it to heal my leg".

What's gotten into him? He's acting almost . . . playful. Belle wondered, smiling at him.

The mischievous look in his eyes vanished, and he explained in his usual tone of voice, "Dr. Wales gave me pills for leg cramps. Now let's get this session over with shall we?"

Belle nodded and took the instruction booklet out of her satchel that Dr. Wales had given her, and opened it.

After quickly reading through the part highlighted, she looked up at him and said, "Ok, lift both arms up at shoulder height".

Mr. Gold sighed, "Is this really nessicary dearie?" he asked, but obliged her by lifting his arms as she'd asked.

After about another twenty minutes, they finished up their little session and Belle left, Mr. Gold hurried about his shop, getting ready to close the shop for the day so that he could go get his youngest son Henry.

The drive over to Regina's house wasn't long, and within moments, he was pulling his Cadillac up into the driveway beside the large fancy house.

Henry disappeared from his window on the second floor of the house, while Regina stepped outside, a mug in hand, and a neutral expression on her face.

"Russell," she greeted him when he stepped out of the car and started towards her.

"Regina," he replied calmly, despite the excitement coursing through him.

Today, not only was he gaining full custody of his eldest son, Baedden, but his two sons were also meeting face to face for the very first time. For the last seven years that Mr. Gold had known about Henry being his son, he and Regina had a set up a program so that Bae and Henry could talk over the phone, text and even face time. However they had never actually stood in the same room as each other, so it was still exciting for the three of them.

Unfortunately this new improvement in his life also meant that either he and Emma would eventually have to explain to Henry why the two of them had never married, or why they had both been shocked eventually by the fact that they had had a child together. Mr. Gold just hoped that Bae would keep his word and not tell Henry what had happened between Gold and Emma before of them were ready to.

"Take good care of him Russell," Regina said, snapping him out of his thoughts. Mr. Gold looked up to see Henry with his bag slung over his shoulder racing down the front porch towards him. The kid stopped to give his adoptive mother a quick hug before running over to do the same with his father.

"Ready to go Henry?" he asked as his son ducked into the backseat with his overnight bag. Henry nodded eagerly, a happy smile plastered on his face as he shut the car door.

Mr. Gold waved to Regina before he ducked into the car himself and called, "Don't worry Regina, I'll take good care of him, and he'll be back tomorrow at one".

"See to it that you do Gold!" Regina shouted in reply as the black Cadillac pulled out of the driveway.

On the way over to the airport, which resided in a nearby town called Paint-ville, he and Henry discussed the Harry Potter series, and which character(and book) was the best out of the bunch. Henry and him both agreed that Snape was one of the best characters because of the unpredictability of his character towards the end of the series.

However, when they entered Paint-ville, both grew rather quiet and merely enjoyed listening to the radio playing pop music, Henry's favorite type.

The airport had just come into sight when Henry spoke up, his voice strangely quiet and sober compared to his usual cheerfulness; "Hey dad, I've heard my moms mention that Russell isn't your first name, and I thought it was, so what is your first name?"

Mr. Gold sighed, "Russell is my first name now Henry, but when I first met both of your mothers, my legal first name was Rumplestiltskin. My parents named me after a brand of beer in Scotland. A few years after I moved to Storybrooke I had it legally changed".

Henry smiled, "Rumplestiltskin's a cool name," he said, back to his cheerful self. "It's the name of a fairytale character and a character in my book." The young boy cocked his head to the side as they pulled into the airport parking lot, "Why'd you change it?"

Mr. Gold shrugged, and put the car in park and pulled the keys out of the ignition, before turning in his seat to look back at Henry. "I didn't want a reminder of my parents. They both cared more for themselves than they ever did for their only child."

"Oh," Henry said, falling silent again as they left the car and made their way inside the airport traffic center.

They wandered through the crowd for a bit, searching for Baedden when a loud and cheerful familiar voice called out to them, "Hey Dad! Henry! Over here!"

Mr. Gold and Henry turned to see a twelve year old boy with dark brown hair, and his father's brown eyes and mischievous smile behind them.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

Belle sighed, she had just gotten done with her date with Will Scarlet in the park, which had gone terribly. The first part had gone well enough, they had had a nice picnic, but then Will had become more interested in a passing woman named Anastasia than he had been with Belle. So now, Belle was walking home alone at eleven o'clock at night.

Will had been supposed to drive her home, but after he had left her to talk to Anastasia and pay Belle not a second thought.

Belle considered calling her tow close guy friends, Killian and Markus Smee, to come pick her up and drive her home. But the moment she pulled out her phone she remembered that the two boys had gone to see a horror movie in theaters with Ruby tonight.

They had asked days earlier if she, Mary Margaret and their other close friend, Ariel wanted to go with them, but the three girls weren't a fan of horror movies so they had politely declined.

Belle now wondered if she would have had more fun going with her friends to see The Bloody Cabin at the movies than with Will on their pathetic excuse for a date. Not that it really mattered now.

With a small sigh, Belle placed her phone back in her purse and continued down the road, silently hoping nobody would try and take advantage of her or mug her.

In her tiny red dress, barely knee length, with two inch high black heels, all borrowed from Ruby, naturally, she would make an excellent target for any criminals passing by that were looking for easy victims.

Not that she wasn't prepared for any possible problematic criminals. She always kept a bottle of pepper spray in her purse anytime she went out, just in case.

As Belle passed by Mr. Gold's pawnshop, she noticed the sound of footsteps behind her, causing a shiver to run down her spine. But when she turned around, there was no one there, just an empty sidewalk.

"Huh? Could have sworn that there was someone behind me," Belle murmured to herself, and was about to turn back around when a firm hand touched her shoulder.

Eyes widening in fear, she ripped the pepper spray out of her purse and sprayed it right in the man's face.

Mr. Gold recoiled in pain, shrieking loudly, hands clawing at his eyes. He stumbled wildly back towards the street, while the full moon made his skin look almost golden green and . . . scaly, like a reptile's.

Belle covered her mouth with her hands, and then shoved her pepper spray back into her purse, before running over to him, hoping that she hadn't hurt him.

She reached out and grabbed hold of his hand in an attempt to keep him from falling backwards onto the street, but rather than helping him keep his balance, she toppled onto him when he finally fell down onto his butt on the side of the street.

The top of her head bumped into his chin, and she braced her hands against his chest to catch herself, while one of her legs fell in between his.

"Oh my gosh, I am so, so sorry Mr. Gold! I-I didn-I thought you wer-were some creeper, I didn't know it was you!" Belle stammered, struggling to get off of him, "I didn't hurt you did I?"

Suddenly, he reached out unexpectedly, but instead of pushing her away, he grabbed her hand, keeping her from standing up. Her gaze met his, and she was shocked to see that his eyes were no longer the sable brown they had always been, but were amber and looked reptilian.

"M-Mr. Gold," Belle said softly, suddenly worried.

She wasn't afraid of him, but for him. So many strange things were happening to the poor man in such a short time, he must've been terribly scared of what was happening to him, Belle thought to herself as she gazed into his eyes.

Mr. Gold cocked his head to the side, his eyes wide and staring with a strange look in them. That's when Belle noticed that it wasn't just the lighting that made his skin look different, it was because his skin actually was different. Rather than his normal skin tones, his skin was goldish green, and appeared scaly.

Belle looked down at the hand that held hers in place, and was shocked to see that his uniform nails were replaced with sharp blacks claws.

"Mr. Gold," he repeated, his voice high pitched, and impish. A slow wide grin spread across his face, creating dimples in his cheeks that Belle thought looked slightly adorable on him.

He giggled in obvious delight, then withdrew his hand from hers and pointed it at her, and said in the impish voice, "Nyah! Nininini, it is . . . Rumplestiltskin, dearie". His hands came up in a wild flourishing gesture when he said Rumplestiltskin, and he giggled again after saying dearie, as if this was extremely amusing to him.

Belle quickly got off of him, and stumbled to her feet, brushing herself off. When she looked back up, she saw that Mr. Gold was watching her, his eyes roaming over her body in mild curiosity.

Belle stared at him, her mind unable to fathom what could have possible caused this change in him, when suddenly Mr. Gold cried out in pain, and fell to the ground, curling into a tiny ball, trembling and sobbing softly.

She was instantly at his side, and threw her two inch heels off so that she could crouch down beside him.

She brushed her fingers across his cheek, now back to its normal coloring, and jerked back, biting her lower lip in worry. He was burning up with fever.

Should she call the hospital? She didn't think Dr. Wales was at the hospital at the moment, but surely the ambulance would be able to help him?

Mr. Gold shuddered, and then he stopped trembling and slowly sat up, groaning in pain. He rubbed his face with one hand, and then looked over at her, his sable brown eyes meeting her blue ones.

"Ms. French? Wh-what's going on?" he asked, his Scottish accent more thick than it usually was when he spoke.

He looked so helpless, so scared . . . Belle, for reasons she couldn't quite understand, wanted nothing more than to give him a big hug and squeeze him until that somehow made him feel better, and turned him back into his normal self.

She reached out and cupped the side of his face in her right hand, her thumb brushing gently against his cheek, hoping to comfort him some.

"I-I don't really know Mr. Gold, but we need to get you to the hospital ok, can you walk?" she asked softly, not wanting to scare the poor man further.

"B-but my boys, if they wake up and I'm not home . . . .I have to go home, I'll be fine, please Ms. French," he stammered, struggling to his feet.

He swayed unsteadily on his feet, and the moment Belle was on hers, she wrapped an arm around his waist to keep him from falling over.

Belle shook her head firmly, and said, "Right now you need medical attention, come on, let's get you to the hospital, its not that far from here".

He gave her another pleading look, but then without another word, let her help him towards the hospital.

When they reached the waiting room in the hospital, they were instantly greeted by several nurses, looking worried and who inquired about what had happened to Mr. Gold.

Belle explained what had occurred and one of the nurses ran off to go get a doctor, when she returned, it was Dr. Kelly that was following the nurse.

Dr. Kelly took Belle's place, and wrapped a steadying arm around Mr. Gold's waist and helped him into one of the examination rooms, where he promptly threw up on the floor, causing Dr. Kelly to take them into another room.

As nurses flew in and out of the room, Dr. Kelly quizzed Belle over the events of what had happened.

She told him everything, even the part about the strange change of skin color and the reptilian eyes that had changed back to normal after he had become himself again.

Dr. Kelly told her to wait in the waiting room and then proceeded to examine Mr. Gold with the many nurses helping him.

When they all came back out into the waiting room, Mr. Gold looked more like his normal self, apart from the fact that he was wearing silken Pjs. Actually he had been wearing them before too, but Belle had been too shocked by his strange new appearance to notice his odd choice of clothing.

Dr. Kelly chuckled when Belle asked him what was wrong with Mr. Gold.

He tucked his clipboard under his arm and ran a hand threw his glossy black hair before he told her in a rather high and mighty tone of voice, "He was sleep walking when you found him, Ms. French, so when you sprayed pepper spray into his eyes, rather than wake up right away, he responded to the pain but was still dreaming and reacting to the environment around him. That's why he was behaving so peculiarly, as to his altered appearance, I think you were just imagining things when you saw his altered behavier. However, I think that it would be wise for you both to get a taxi to drive you home, alright Ms. French".

Instantly, both of them complained about the doctor's reasoning.

"I know what I saw, his appearance did change!" Belle insisted, while Mr. Gold huffed angrily, growling something at the doctor about having never sleep walked in his life.

Dr. Kelly sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Look, its late, it could have happened to anyone, now go home both of you, and get some sleep. If this persists, then come back tomorrow morning ok?"

Grumbling, Belle followed Mr. Gold outside, who she noticed was now walking perfectly without the smallest hint of his defining limp visible.

Mr. Gold waved down a taxi and ushered her inside, before plopping down on the seat beside hers. Belle was so furious with Dr. Kelly that she didn't even notice when the driver asked them where to, or when Mr. Gold told the driver his home address.

It was only when the taxi pulled into Mr. Gold's driveway that Belle realized that she had no money on her, and Mr. Gold was already getting out of the car, having paid the driver already.

"You getting out miss?" the driver asked, and Belle nodded quickly, before hopping out of the car, and wincing. Her feet were killing her; she'd been wearing the heels for too long.

Belle bit her lip, she didn't want to ask Mr. Gold for money to use for a ride home, not that it mattered, the taxi was already racing away from the large Victorian house where Mr. Gold lived.

But to her surprise, Mr. Gold turned back to her, an almost shy look on his face which was quickly turning a bright red. "Um, do you uh," he licked his lips nervously and gestured to the house, "If you need to Ms. French, you can stay the night, and I can drive you home tomorrow on my way to work. Not that you have to, you can always use my phone to call one of your friends to come pick you up or—"

Belle smiled, surprised by how sweet he was being. She walked over to him and rested her hand on his shoulder, effectively stopping his words, "Thank you Mr. Gold, are you sure I wouldn't be intruding though, I don't want to make you uncomfortable"

Mr. Gold shook his head, "No need dearie, I have plenty of spare rooms you could use."

Belle nodded and said a little more quietly, "Do you have anything I could change into for PJs, I don't really think this dress was made for sleeping in". she gestured towards the flimsy excuse for a dress that Ruby had lent her.

"Of course Dearie—"

"Belle," she interrupted him.

"What?"

"My name, its Belle."

"Oh. Well then, . . Belle, please follow me," he said, and led her up to the house.

Only fifteen minutes later, Belle found herself in a large guestroom at Mr. Gold's house, climbing into a big plush queen sized bed, wearing nothing but her undergarments and a t-shirt of Mr. Gold's that he'd lent her.

As she snuggled down underneath the covers of her bed, inhaling the scent of the man that had been flung so unexpectedly into her life, she couldn't help but think that his scent, which smelled of pine and paper and clung to his shirt was rather nice.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

Mr. Gold's hands roamed over her waist, before he leaned forward and gently kissed her, pinning her against the wall of his bedroom.

As Belle wrapped her arms around his neck and caressed his hair, accidently scraping her nails against the back of his neck which caused him to emit a soft whimper of need, while his eyes fluttered shut.

"You're so beautiful Belle," he murmured against her lips, causing her to smile, while a blush crept up her cheeks from her neck.

Why couldn't her date with Will gone this well? She silently wondered as she tugged impatiently on Mr. Gold's tie.

The creaking of a door opening caught her attention, but then Mr. Gold was quietly shimmering out of his waist coat and tie.

She kissed the side of his jaw, and he returned the favor while he kissed the tip of her nose and trailed soft kisses along her jaw.

She leaned up and—

Soft boyish giggling woke Belle up, and sitting up in the dimly lit room, she saw Henry and a slightly older boy standing by the door, watching her with keen interest.

Her heart nearly stopped when she realized that the two boys had been watching her sleep, and not only that, but had caught her sleeping in their guest room.

Sure, one day she might've have wanted to meet his eldest son Baedden, but defiantly not like this!

Henry, upon seeing that she'd woken up, smiled widely at her and said cheerfully: "Hey Ms. French! Are you and our dad having a sleep-over? Cause that'd be so cool and—"

Baedden slapped a hand over his younger brother's mouth and said apologetically to her, despite the huge smile on his face, "Sorry miss, we just saw the door was open and were curious, we'll leave you alone now".

He ushered his younger brother out of the spare room, eyes twinkling with excitement. When they went out into the hall, Baedden closed the door behind them, leaving Belle alone, mortified that the two boys had found her before she'd even woken.

She glanced over at the alarm clock and saw that it was nine in the morning; she was going to be late for work!

She scrambled out of the bed, and over to the chair where she'd thrown her clothes last night after changing into the t-shirt Mr. Gold had loaned her for the night.

"Oh no!" Belle moaned in distress.

She only had her red dress and two inch heels from her date with Will last night; that meant that either someone would see her getting out of his car in the flimsy dress, or the taxi driver would see her needing to be picked up from his house while wearing the flimsy dress.

Belle groaned, silently wishing that she had remembered to bring money to her date yesterday so she could've paid the taxi driver to take her home.

She instantly decided against the taxi, so that meant she'd have to get Mr. Gold to drop her off at her library apartment. But that also meant facing his sons again.

She put the dress back on, and then put his shirt on over it. At least this way she wouldn't embaress herself or the boys when they saw her again; at least the second time she'd have more clothing on.

She grabbed her shoes and purse, and quickly and quietly headed out of the room. The spare room she had stayed in was at the very end of the hallway on the second floor of the house, while Mr. Gold's room, as well as his boys' room was on the first floor.

She crept down the spiraling wooden staircase down to the first floor and found herself in the small entrance area of the house between the hall of bedrooms, and the living room and kitchen.

Hearing excited chattering coming from the living room, Belle guessed that the boys were now taking residence up in the living room.

Quietly, not wanting to attract their attention again, she went into the hallway and knocked on the door that she remembered being Mr. Gold's from last night.

Not getting a response from inside, Belle opened the door and went in, wondering silently if he slept in the nude.

Belle immediately blushed, that sudden thought causing her to remember her dream in which she had been making out with her employer.

She silently hoped that she hadn't made any embaressing sounds in her sleep that the boys had heard; though she found herself wondering if Mr. Gold was as good of a kisser as he had been in her dream.

What's gotten into me? Belle thought, shaking her head as if that could magically clear her head of those peculiar thoughts.

She walked over to Mr. Gold's bed, and smiled softly.

He was curled up under the covers of his bed, with one arm resting under the pillow his head rested upon, with the other stretched across the side of the bed, his legs curled up close to his butt.

He was wearing a black night shirt with grey sweatpants; his hair messed up from tossing and turning in his sleep. He looked so much younger when he was asleep, less stern and angry, and more handsome.

She leaned over and gently shook his shoulder, saying softly so as not to startle him: "Mr. Gold, wake up, its morning sleepy head".

He drowsily opened his eyes, bleary from sleep, and rubbed them, yawning.

Just like last night, his eyes were reptilian and amber, but as soon as he blinked, his eyes went back to normal.

Belle knew she wasn't imagining that.

"Morning Milah," Mr. Gold murmured drowsily, sitting up. His joints popped softy as he stretched lazily.

"Milah?" Belle cocked her head to the side in confusion; had that been his wife's name? Suddenly she wondered what had happened to the mysterious woman that had given Mr. Gold his first son, before vanishing from the man's life. Had he cheated on her with Emma? Was that why the two weren't together? Belle didn't think so, but she was still curious to what had happened.

Mr. Gold's eyes widened in shock, and he immediately blushed in embarrassment. "S-sorry Ms. French, I thought you were my ex".

Belle sat down on the edge of the bed, and placed her hand comfortingly on his, "It's ok Mr. Gold, and like I said before, please call me Belle".

"Ok, Belle," he said softly, staring transfixed at her hand resting on his.

They stayed like that for a moment, then Mr. Gold shook himself, behaving as if he'd just come out of a blissful trance. "Forgive my bad manners, I'll go make breakfast and then take you home,"

He stood up, and then looked uncertainly back at her, "That is, if you want to stay for breakfast. . . ."

Belle stood up and nodded, "That would be very kind of you, thank you." She bit her lower lip and glanced down at herself, then looked back up at him, "Uh, do you have any pants I could borrow?" she asked, gesturing to her clothes.

He pursed his lips for a moment thinking, and Belle couldn't help but think of how those lips would feel pressed to hers, then: "I think I have some of my wife's old things, just a moment".

He went over to the closet and dug through it for a bit before he came back with a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers, and handed them to her, saying, "Bathroom's across the hall".

Belle thanked him again and left the room and went into the bathroom to change clothes. She took her dress off and put the pants and t-shirt on. She knew instantly that the pants and sneakers had belonged to a woman, but the shirt was still his, though shrunken.

She left his other shirt on the back of the toilet and shoved her dress into her purse, though it stuck out a bit, and then went back out into the hall.

It seemed Mr. Gold had beat her into the kitchen, for she could hear him and his sons chattering away while bacon sizzled in a frying pan.

Mr. Gold was wearing a blue dress shirt, and black jeans, his hair combed; it was the most casual she had ever seen him before.

Henry and Baedden were sitting at the table, whispering secretively to each other while they were writing or drawing, she couldn't tell, on pieces of paper.

Their father was by the stove, cooking bacon and eggs. When he saw her standing in the doorway to the room, he smiled and motioned her into the room.

Baedden looked up and grinned mischievously at his father, then asked, "So that's why you snuck out last night after we went to bed, you went to pick up Ms. French for a sleepover".

Mr. Gold opened his mouth to protest, but Baedden had already turned to face Belle, smiling, "Hi, I'm Baedden."

Belle smiled at him, "I'm Belle French,"

"Nice to meet you Ms. French," Baedden said, his eyes gleaming.

"You can just call me Belle, and I was just helping your father with something and he let me stay over because it was so late," she explained to the boys.

Mr. Gold took four plates out of one of the cabinets, and piled bacon and eggs onto each of them, before setting them down on the table.

He looked at his sons, and motioned towards the drawers beneath the counter tops, "Bae, why don't you go get the silver ware".

Baedden nodded and hopped off his chair to go do as his father had asked, while Henry also hopped down from his seat and said cheerfully, "Can we have tea to go with breakfast Dad?"

Mr. Gold nodded and headed back into the kitchen, taking out a teapot from a cabinet, "Aye, sounds good to me." He turned around and placed the pot on the stove before turning it back on.

He looked up at Belle and asked, "Would you like some tea Belle?"

She nodded, and chatted with Mr. Gold and the boys while the tea warmed. When it was done, he poured it into tea cups and joined them at the table.

The three boys soon ended up in a discussion with Belle about who could have possibly stolen the Dark One's dagger; it was only when Mr. Gold mentioned the delivery man as a possible suspect that Belle realized something.

The teacup fell her hand and landed with a loud clank on the table, startling everyone, including herself. Luckily she had drank all the tea already, so there was nothing to clean up.

Biting her bottom lip in worry, Belle slowly picked it up and saw that there was a chip on the side as big her pinky nail, in a hoarse voice she said, "I-I'm sorry, b-but it is chipped Mr. Gold".

The man looked at her, perplexed, then shrugged, saying, "Its just a cup dearie".

She nodded, and took a shaky breath of relief.

But the question remained; had Mr. Gold's pecualiar behaver and the legend about the dagger just a coincidence, or was the legend of the Dark One's Dagger real?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: All Magic Comes with a Price!

"Thank you for breakfast Mr. Gold, and for letting me spend the night," Belle said when Mr. Gold had parked his car in front of the library.

He gave her a small smile and shrugged, "I owed you one anyway from when you called the ambulance the other day".

"Yeah, I guess so, anyway thanks again, I'll see you later Mr. Gold," Belle said, offering him another smile before she hopped out of his car and went inside the library.

Mrs. Potts was already inside, talking to Mary Margaret and Ruby.

When the three women saw her, they all ran over, chattering loudly, their faces tense with worry and surprise.

"Where were you? You were supposed to meet me at Grannies today to give me a full report of what happened with you and Will!" Ruby complained.

"Are you okay?" Mary Margaret demanded, checking her over, "He didn't force himself on you or anything right? Cause if he did, I'm roommates with Deputy Emma, and I can totally have her arrest him or something".

Belle was surprised by the school teacher's sudden ire, but her attention was instantly adverted when Mrs. Potts pointed to Mr. Gold's car, outside the window, now driving away.

"Did he drop you off Belle?" Mrs. Potts demanded, looking over at her in horror, "Oh sweetie, if you needed a ride you could've called us . . . or anyone else. He didn't make you do anything in exchange for that ride did he?"

The old woman narrowed her eyes in obvious suspicion, her fists clenching a little.

Ruby's eyes widened and she swore softly under her breath, and made for the door, but Belle stopped her by grabbing her arm and shaking her head frantically.

"No, no, nothing like that". Belle said.

She understood that her friends that him to be some sort of beast, and honestly she hadn't exactly had that good of an opinion of him before either, but it was entirely unnessisary to claim him wanting to take advantage of her.

Ruby frowned and folded her arms across her chest, "Spill it Belle! What's going on? Fess up!"

Mary Margaret nodded in agreement, her green eyes wide with worry, while she nervously bit her lower lip.

Belle sighed and shook her head at her friends and employer, "Honestly, there's nothing going on guys . . . I was walking home last night by myself because Will was being . . ."

"A butt-watcher?" Ruby offered.

"Ruby, language there are children in the library that could be listening," Mary Margaret scolded.

"Yeah, well, anyway," Belle continued, "I found him sleepwalking and brought him to the hospital. They didn't find anything wrong with him again, so we called a taxi and they brought us to his house and well, I didn't have any money on me and I didn't ask to borrow any money from him, and he understood that so he let me stay the night—"

Those words were barely out of her mouth before Ruby opened her mouth to interrupt. Luckily, Mrs. Potts slapped a hand over Ruby's mouth, gesturing with her other hand for Belle to continue with her story.

"Anyway he let me stay in one of his guest rooms, and lent me this shirt and pants," Belle said, gesturing towards her outfit, "Since I didn't have anything to wear but my dress. . . Oh! I also got to meet his older son Baedden. He's staying permentantly with his dad now".

"He has another son?" Mary Margaret raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Mrs. Potts nodded, "I remember Baedden back when Mr. Gold was married to Milah. I don't blame him for divorcing her, that woman was constantly having affairs behind his back."

"She didn't love him . . ." Belle said softly, her heart suddenly aching in sympathy for the poor man, he must have been so lonely. No wonder he acted like a beast around everyone else, he probably didn't want to experience that heart break again.

Belle had spent the rest of that day working at the library before she went up to her apartment and changed into her security guard uniform, fully prepared to bring Mr. Gold's clothes to work so she could give them back. But then she realized that he would probably be home with eldest son and Henry, who would be going to Emma and Mary Margaret's place tomorrow morning if she remembered correctly from what Mary Margaret had told her.

Gaston would be taking the second shift tonight, so she would hopefully have time to drop by Mr. Gold's place and give him back his t-shirt and pants, and sneakers.

Belle sighed as she rounded the corner and turned into one of the Artifact rooms on the top floor of the museum, shining her flashlight around to ensure she didn't accidently trip or something.

After Mr. Gold had offered to drive her to the library apartment where she lived, Belle had completely forgotten about the legend of the Dark One's dagger, but now that she was alone again in the museum, her mind had wandered back to it.

Yes, she liked the idea of magic, and was fascinated by it, but at the same time, Belle had never actually believed that it was real. Yet that delivery man had been so sure. . . and then there was Mr. Gold's strange behavier to take into account.

Suddenly the sound of blaring loud music filled the empty and supposed to be deserted museum.

"I don't care what you think as long as it's about me, the best of us can find happiness in misery . . . . Woo" the song's singer blared.

Belle spun around and ran out of the room and stopped on the top of the flight of stairs leading down to the first floor, her eyes wide in shock, not really believing . . .

Standing on the reception desk was the strangest man she had ever seen.

He was a small man that much she could tell, but the rest of his features were hidden. He was wearing jet black leather pants, knee high army boots, a dark red silk shirt, and a dark brownish-black leather jacket with the hood up. Covering his face was a mask that greatly resembled the face of an angry wolf, only it was pure black, with fangs sticking out of the squashed mouth.

A radio was sitting on the desk beside where he was dancing about wildly, laughing happily, and very impishly to himself.

Belle's hand instantly fell to her tazer, "Hey! Who are you! You're not supposed to be in here!" she shouted furiously at the stranger, before she raced down the steps towards him.

He spun around, giggling, "Hello there Dearie-dear!"

She stopped dead in her tracks. His voice was high-pitched and almost . . . childish.

"Answer my question, who are you!" Belle growled at him threatening, pointing the Tazer at him.

For whatever reason, the man didn't seem the slightest concerned. He just giggled impishly again before he hopped down off of the desk, the radio suddenly going silent though he hadn't touched it.

Before Belle could shout at him again, the man bowed at the waist, before he stood back up and said in a flourish, "Rumplestiltskin, and may I ask who you are dearie?"

"None of your concern," Belle snapped, "Now turn around and put your hands on your head! You've violated the no trespassing onto private property law!"

The man cocked his head to the side, and Belle had the sneaking suspicion that he was grinning like the bloody Cheshire cat under that mask.

"Well," he said his voice cocky, "If I do, you'll owe me a favor dearie". Rumplestiltskin clasped his hands in front of him, and Belle saw that his skin wasn't normal, in fact in looked like a glittery golden green.

"What?" Belle glared at him in confusion, a shiver of fear beginning to creep up her spine. There was something unnatural about this Rumplestiltskin.

Rumplestiltskin rubbed his hands together, "Do we have a deal dearie?"

"Hands behind your head now!" Belle spat, her patience waning with the man. Whoever, or whatever he was, was going to have to answer to Mr. Gold and the police department.

"I'll take that as a yes," Rumplestiltskin murmured as he slowly turned around and put his hands behind his head.

Belle shook herself and walked over to him. She grabbed his hands and kept them behind his back as she cuffed him, then she called 911.

Within minutes, Emma was at the museum, running inside.

"Where's Sheriff Gram?" Belle asked her as she came in.

"Off duty," Emma replied, her eyes taking in the sight of Rumplestiltskin. She turned to face Belle again, "He hasn't struggled at all?"

"Not at all Deputy, I always honor my agreements," Rumplestiltskin said from where he was still standing in front of Belle, completely at ease as if this was nothing more than a fun outing for the three of them rather than an arrest.

Belle's fingers dug into his shoulder from where her hand rested on his shoulder, "What are you talking about? What agreement?" Belle snapped.

Emma snorted, raising an eyebrow as she walked over to him, "Don't worry about it Ms. French. I'm sure this idiot is high off something, he's too calm. We'll figure it out at the station and I'll call you to let you know".

Belle nodded and let go of the strange man, "Thanks Emma".

Emma nodded and was about to grab hold of Rumplestiltskin when the man vanished in a poof of purple smoke.

"What the!" Emma cried, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Where'd he go!" Belle yelled.

"Our agreement was to let you cuff me," Rumplestiltskin purred in his impish voice from behind the two women who instantly spun around to see him standing there calmly, no longer hand cuffed. "You never said I had to let myself be taken by the police".

He raised his hands in an elegant flourish gesture, "Remember all magic comes with a price," he turned his head to stare directly at Belle as he said his next words, which were directed at her, "And I will collect, Dearie. . . "

Both women stared open mouthed, and eyes wide at the man with disbelief as he vanished again in a cloud of purple smoke, only this time, he didn't reappear.

Baedden couldn't sleep that night.

He loved his father more than anything in the whole world, but he seemed different today than he had been yesterday. He was more protective over him and Henry who was sleeping in the bed with Baedden, apparently unworried about their father's strange behavier today.

Baedden had gone with his father to collect rent on the outskirts of town. One of his father's cabin renters, a man by the name of Robin Hooden, who had a five year old son named Rowan hadn't had enough money to pay the rent.

Normally his father would give him a notice that his rent would then be doubled next months, and if he couldn't pay that next month then he would have that month to find a new place.

But instead his father had suggested a deal in which he would forgive the debt this time in exchange for one of Robin Hooden's antique bows, which the man had quickly agreed to.

When Baedden had asked his father about it, he had merely said that it was because he didn't want to see the child in a bad position.

Bae wanted to believe that, but for some reason he couldn't.

He sighed and got up out of bed, perhaps a glass of water would help calm him enough so that he could get some sleep.

When he went into the kitchen, his heart sped up the sliding glass door in the kitchen was slightly ajar.

Bae grabbed a broom for protection and slowly crept towards the door before opening it.

Almost immediately he breathed a sigh of relief. It was just his Papa, sleeping out in one of the comfortable lawn chairs on the back porch. He was wearing his usual pajamas and had an open book about sleep-walking on his lap. He must've been outside reading it when he fell asleep.

Bae walked out onto the porch and over to his father. He closed the book and took it off his Papa's lap, and placed it on the ground under the chair before he shook his father's shoulder. "Papa, Papa wake up", he said softly.

Mr. Gold lifted his head, and blinked sleepily at his son; "Hm". The man gave a slight start when he realized he was outside and gave a soft, "Oh!" before he shook himself and stood up, stretching a little.

"Guess I must've fallen asleep while I was reading," he yawned, then he wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders, "But why are you up Bae? You should be asleep with your brother".

"I was getting a drink of water when I saw you sleeping outside Papa," Bae explained as they went back inside the house. Neither of them noticed that one of the floor boards on the porch was sticking up a little, leather clothing, a mask and a dagger hidden beneath it.

Just a quick note for you guys, this is sort of like Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jackel. When Mr. Gold is normal he doesn't remember anything he does as Rumplestiltskin, and likewise when he's Rumplestiltskin. Just so you all are aware. Hope you're enjoying the story.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: After-Math

"This isn't possible; it has to some kind of trick," Emma says, her eyes wide with shock as she, Belle and Sheriff Gram review the footage over and over again.

Belle stares at the strange figure of Rumplestiltskin, now that she's seeing it play over and over on the computer screen she can't help but feel that this wasn't some skilled teenage prank, like in past instances of a "historic figure" showing up in the museum. Most of the time, the teens were caught fairly quickly, but this? This wasn't some prank, at least not one that was harmless.

"Ms. French," Gram says turning to her, while Emma continues to stare at the screen, checking for any time skips to prove that the film was tampered with, "Can we talk alone for a moment?"

Belle mutely nods and follows the messy haired sheriff into his office, where he motions for her to sit in one of the chairs, before sitting at his desk himself.

Gram bites his lower lip, and is silent for a few moments, then looks up at Belle and asks, "This . . . Rumplestiltskin, that's a fairytale name yeah?"

Belle nods, remembering the book of fairytales that her close friend, Mary Margaret had given Henry, one of them involving the impish figure with a fetish for deal-making.

"Do you have any idea as to why this man would call himself that?" Gram asks, folding his arms across his chest, though his face remained warm, and encouraging towards her, "Most criminals aren't usually so willing to give a name".

Belle started to shake her head no, but then realized something, and said, "In the story . . . Rumplestiltskin makes a deal for a favor from the miller's daughter later, her first born child. Our intruder . . . he . . . he kept asking if I wanted to make a deal. When I told him to turn around and put his hands behind his head, I think he thought I was making a deal with him, and before he vanished, he said he would collect. I-I think he might be our dagger thief. Maybe he thought since he felt I owed him that he could get me to help him in a heist or something".

While she talks, Gram's expression turns from encouraging to thoughtful, it seems he's considering her words.

After she stops talking, he remains silent for a moment then opens his mouth to talk, but before he can say anything, Emma comes into the room, saying, "There isn't any time jumps on the footage. Whatever he did . . . however he did it, it didn't involve tampering with the footage. At least not from what I can see."

Gram nods and then says, facing Emma, "Well, I think we may have a way to find this . . . Rumplestiltskin. As Belle said, he thought he was making a deal with her, then maybe he will make good on his word and come back for a deal."

Emma grins, realization spreading across her face, "And if he was the dagger thief, then we'll be able to bust him for both".

Gram nods and turns back to Belle, "I hate to ask this of you Belle, but he's left us no trace on both times he managed to sneak into the museum, you're the only possible lead we have on him . . ."

Belle stood up and smiled reassuringly at Gram, knowing the sheriff was in a difficult situation and only wanted to solve the problem as soon as possible. "It's fine," Belle told him, "I don't mind being used as bait. I didn't become a security guard only to fail my duty by letting some crazy man escape".

Gram nodded, his face grim, "Thank you for helping us Ms. French, but I will have Emma trail you as often as she can without being conspicuous. And if you can manage it, stay with at least another person, I don't want this maniac hurting you".

Belle nodded, "I'll try".

Gram spun around in his chair and picked up his phone, saying, "Emma, can you look up Mr. Gold's phone number, I need to let him know of what occurred last night".

Before Emma can say anything, Belle speaks up, "I can if you want Sheriff, I'm going over to his shop anyway to check on him."

Gram nodded, and said, "Go ahead, but I'm at least required to leave a message, besides I'll have to ask him if he knows anything anyway later on".

X*X*X*X*X*

Mr. Gold stared at the Dark One's dagger picture on the screen; unable to tear his eyes away from it, though he couldn't fathom why.

He just felt the strangest pull towards it, even before he had bought it, he had still felt that same tug.

Sighing, he leaned back in the chair behind his desk and tapped his fingers on the desk top beside the laptop.

It still didn't make sense to him how someone had not only managed to sneak into his museum with both a security guard on duty but also with the most high-tech security system money could buy, but also hadn't touched or gone after anything but the Dark One's dagger.

He blinked, how had the thief known that the dagger would be on display that very night? He hadn't yet announced it on the Storybrooke museum's website. Somehow, the theif had already known when the dagger would arrive . . . Mr. Gold knew it wasn't either of his security guards. Gaston was too stupid to know the value of the dagger, and Belle . . . well, the young librarian/security guard had been with friends.

A sudden idea lit up in his mind and he typed up in google search: Storybrooke, Maine—Ancient Dagger?

Naturally Mr. Gold knew the legend surrounding the ancient dagger, but he also knew that it hadn't originated in any of the olden countries, but had rather shown up during the Salem witch-trials.

A dozen different sites popped up on cue from his search—phrase, but one stood out in particular, an old newspaper article from Storybrooke during the nineteen hundreds. He clicked on it.

His eyes widened ever so slightly as he read through it.

According to the article, a strange woman had showed up in the town soon after a series of strange robberies had started happening, all caused by the same woman, a young lady named Nimue. According to the article, Nimue was supposedly under some sort of spell cast by the strange woman through an ancient dagger that had been discovered in an old crate buried ten feet underground.

Mr. Gold hummed thoughtfully to himself. He had read the old article before, but it had only now just dawned on him that the ancient dagger mentioned in the article could be the Dark One's dagger. Both were described as a wavy, foot long blade with black markings on them.

He copied and pasted the page, and sent it as an email to the Sheriff, maybe it would help them solve the case. In any case it certainly was interesting.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the soft chime of the bell as someone walked into his shop. Judging from the tapping sound of high heels, he guessed that it was either Madam Mayor or Belle. He secretly hoped it was Belle, for some reason, she was starting to become another flicker of light in his life.

"Mr. Gold?" came her lovely Australian accent.

"In the back," Mr. Gold answered, and a moment later, she came into the back room, wearing a pale blue knee-length dress and a golden jacket, her hair tied back in a pony-tail.

"Oh, there you are. Ready for your session?" she asked him, stopping just in front of his desk.

Mr. Gold shrugged and stood up, before he closed the laptop.

He limped over to where she was, and gave her a small smile.

Belle bit her lower lip, and then said, "Listen, last night, at the museum—"

Mr. Gold waved a hand at her, saying, "I know Ms. French, Sheriff Gram came over earlier and asked me a few questions." He paused for a moment then said, "You're not hurt are you?"

She smiled at him, pleasantly surprised and a bit touched that he cared for her well-being. And people said he was the town monster, pffh, Belle didn't think so, or at least she didn't anymore.

She shook her head, still smiling, "No, but thanks to this guy's fetish for deals, we may have a way to catch him".

Mr. Gold nodded, "Good, I've already done some more research over the dagger and I sent the findings to Sheriff Gram. With any luck, it'll help put that criminal behind bars, and away from you Ms. French."

Belle reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, he seemed to startle a little at the sudden contact, "I hope we do catch him soon, but anyway, let's start shall we?"

He nodded, "What first?" he asked.

"Let's try some toe-touches ok?" Belle said.

Mr. Gold huffed softly, "Naturally we have to start with something the ole town monster hates doing," he sighed, starting to comply.

Belle snorted, she didn't like him thinking of himself and such a way, and she was a horrible friend if she didn't try to change his mind about that.

She rested her hand on his back.

Surprised, he stood back up again, a puzzled look on his face.

"What?" he asked, cocking his head to the side, his hair falling into his face.

Belle folded her arms across her chest, "You're not a monster Mr. Gold".

He smirked at her, "Oh to the contrar Ms. French—"

"Belle," she corrected him.

"Belle, but I think the rest of the town disagrees with you, including myself," he said, still smirking.

He was so smug, so sure that he was indeed the monster that the town made him out to be. Belle wanted nothing more than to kiss that look right off his face and prove to him that he wasn't a monster.

Wait was that really what she wanted? Belle thought, shocked by her own thoughts. Suddenly she remembered her heated dream that she'd had at Mr. Gold's house . . . Was she falling in love with him, she couldn't help but wonder.

She took a deep breath and looked back at Mr. Gold. He was still smug, looking as if he thought he had won their little argument. Well, she'd just have to show him.

Do the brave thing and bravery will follow, she told herself.

"Oh really," she said, matching his smug tone.

He blinked, puzzlement starting to replace the smugness.

"Come here," she said, and took his hand in hers. A pleasant tingle ran up her arm at the contact.

She led him over to a full length mirror in the corner of the room, and stopped just in front of it with him. She let go of his hand and moved behind him, resting her hands on his shoulders, and rested her head on his shoulder as well.

He stared blankly at the mirror, a blush starting to creep up his neck to his face. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't the only one, Belle was blushing from their sudden closeness as well.

Mr. Gold suddenly shrugged, "And your point is Belle?"

Belle exhaled, blowing warm air over his neck, and he shivered, his face becoming even redder. He turned his head ever so slightly to look back at her.

Belle reached out with her hand and gently tilted his face back towards the mirror, so that he was once again looking at his reflection.

"You know what I see when I look at you Mr. Gold," she asked him in a low whisper.

He didn't answer; he just stared at their reflection, his mouth slightly open, and swallowed hard. His Adam's apple bobbing.

She brought her hand close to his face, and gently, slowly petted the hair on the side of his head, right beside his ear. She then leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "I see a sophisticated gentleman doing business with people who fail to read the contract. Not a monster".

He turned his head towards her so that their faces were only centimeters apart.

"Belle . . . I," he started to say, his voice husky.

Ding! The shop door opened and two pairs of footsteps clomped into the shop.

"Hey Dad!" Bae called from the front of the shop.

Gold's eyes widened in sudden alarm and he jerked away from Belle, his face bright red, mirroring Belle's.

Baedden and Henry walked into the backroom, their faces lighting up with surprise when they saw their father and Belle, both red faced and alone in the back.

Both boys grinned.

Baedden liked the idea of his father finally having found love again. But knowing his dad, he and his half-brother Henry would have to give them a little nudge.

"Um, I-uh, better be going, I'll see you later to help you with that session Mr. Gold," Belle told him, starting to back out of the room, but she accidently backed into a petistool with an antique tea set on top of it.

She gave a shocked yelp when one of the cups fell off and hit the floor.

Both Henry and Bae suddenly looked nervous, they knew their father was very protective of the antiques in his store.

Belle leaned down and picked the cup up, suddenly very worried, "I-I'm sorry, but i-its chipped," she said.

Mr. Gold stared at her, perplexed, his face still red.

He shrugged, "Its just a cup Belle," he said.

Belle gave a relieved smile, and set the cup back down, "O-ok," she said, "I'll see you later then Mr. Gold".

"Bye Belle, I'll see you later then," he said.

Henry nudged Baedden as Belle left the shop, their father watching her go, an almost lovestruck look in his sable brown eyes.

"I think they need a little push, don't you Henry?" Bae whispered.

Henry grinned and nodded excitedly.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: A night of half-truths

"Rumplestiltskin? Why are you looking that ole fairytale up for, Belle?" Mrs. Potts asked, peering over Belle's shoulder.

They were in the library in front of the computer at the main desk, where Belle had been reading up on everything she could find about the Rumplestiltskin fairytale, trying to find some sort of clue as to where their dagger thief might be hiding.

Belle glanced back at Mrs. Potts, and shrugged, "You heard about the dagger being stolen right?"

Mrs. Potts nodded.

"Well, last night, this strange guy in a mask showed up at the museum, and he called himself Rumplestiltskin. Sheriff Gram, Deputy Swan and I think he might be the dagger thief," Belle explained, exiting out of the site she was currently on before logging off the computer.

Mrs. Potts snorted and patted Belle on the shoulder, "It's probably just another drunk or teen out messing with people, sweetie".

Belle shook her head and stood up, stretching. "No, believe me, there was something very strange about this man".

"If you say so Belle," Mrs. Potts said. The older woman motioned towards the staff-room and added, "Tomorrow I'm having a meeting with Mayor Mills to try and convince that mule of a woman to allow the library to do more children and teen clubs to increase interest, so you'll have the day off".

Belle smiled and nodded, "Alright, good luck with Mayor Mills, Mrs. Potts".

Mrs. Potts smiled, "Have a good night dear," she said.

Belle left the library and headed over down the street towards Mr. Gold's shop, where she could see that the lights were still on.

Overhead, the sky was beginning to darken, and the sun was slowly disappearing behind the horizon.

Suddenly, Belle's phone beeper as it received a text message.

Belle took her phone out of her pocket and checked it; the message was from Ruby.

Ruby: Wanna hang out? Me & Ariel at Grannies & just finished our last shift of the night. Got loads to tell you!

Belle quickly typed a reply.

Belle: Sure, but it'll be a few minutes before I get there, have to check on Mr. Gold. Hospital orders.

A ding from an incoming text message sounded almost instantly.

Ruby: If he tries anything call us, and Ariel will hold him down while I deball him!

Belle chuckled and shook her head, remembering that her friends didn't know that she and Mr. Gold had become friends.

She texted Ruby back and told her that she'd be fine and then promptly headed into Mr. Gold's shop, despite the closed sign.

The belle above the door jingled as she stepped inside, and to her surprise, she didn't hear Mr. Gold call out to her.

Intrigued and slightly worried for her friend, she went into the backroom where she found him sitting at an antique desk, writing—wait no, he was drawing!

Belle smiled mischievously and snuck up behind him. Then she leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Hey".

Mr. Gold shot up out of his chair so fast that Belle had to jump backwards to avoid being hit by the chair that went flying back as well.

Belle gave a startled yelp at this, then exclaimed, "I'm so sorry Mr. Gold, I didn't mean to scare you!"

He turned to face her, his eyes as wide as moons, and his mouth was hanging slightly open. A reddening blush crept across from his neck to his cheeks, and Belle thought he looked absolutely adorable.

"You didn't scare me," he said, beginning to relax, "You just startled me that's all".

"Mm-hm," Belle smiled, then added, "What were you drawing?"

He smiled, and it lit up his entire face, lessening the harsh lines around his mouth, and making him look his age of thirty-two years old, rather than make him look older as he usually did.

He shrugged, "Just some sketches".

Belle tilted her head to the side, "Can I see?" she asked.

Belle was genuinely curious she hadn't known that he liked to sketch. The things you learn when you bother to get to know someone, she thought.

He motioned towards the sketch-pad, "Be my guest," he said.

Belle beamed at him, and though he sounded indifferent to her request, she could see the fear in his eyes.

Mr. Gold stepped out of her way, and belle stepped forward to look at his sketches, and was surprised to find that he must've shut the sketch-pad when she'd startled him.

She picked up the sketch-book and thumbed through it. He'd drawn everything from little cartoonish chibi versions of the townspeople, to realistic drawings of crocodiles and other animals.

Belle looked up at him, "Mr. Gold, I didn't know you could draw this well, these are amazing!" she told him.

Mr. Gold looked up at her as well, having been staring at his shoes while she went through his drawings.

"You think so?" he asked, his eyes full of hope.

Belle nodded, and thumbed through it some more until she found the drawing he'd been working on.

It was a woman with fluffy hair wearing some sort of cloak, and was holding the Dark one's dagger up, so that one could almost see the name on the dagger. All around her were thick trees and what looked like the beginnings of mist or fog.

Mr. Gold rested his hand on her shoulder, peering down at the drawing.

"Where'd you get the idea for this? It's so detailed," Belle asked, looking back up at him.

He removed his hand from her shoulder and shrugged, staring down at his shoes again as if they were by far the most interesting thing in his shop.

Belle turned to face him, but not before closing the sketch-book and having placed it back onto the antique desk.

She reached out and cupped the side of his face in her hand, gently tilting his face up so that he was looking at her.

"It's ok," she soothed, "You can tell me".

"I-uh," he licked his lips nervously, leaning into her hand, his eyes half-closed. "I saw it in my dream last night. There was a-a woman with the dagger and she-uh, she uh was dancing the waltz by herself and when I approached her, she took the dagger out and . . ." he quietly trailed off, a far-away look coming into his eyes.

"And—?" Belle prompted gently, her thumb stroking the stumble along his jaw.

He pulled away from her suddenly, shaking himself. "We should hurry up and finish the check-up," he said as her phone began dinging repeatedly, "It sounds like your friends are paging you". He added with an amused smile.

X*X*X*X*

A few minutes later Belle found herself walking into Grannies where she was instantly greeted by Ruby and Ariel.

They pulled her over to one of the booths and the all slid into it, Ruby's face was bright, and Belle could tell that she had some very good news.

"What's up?" Belle asked when they were settled.

Ruby slapped her hands down on the table, her green eyes gleaming in excitement and sheer bliss, "Archie finally asked me out on a date!" she crowed in triumpth, earning an amused chuckle from her Grandmother who was cleaning up the restraunt.

Belle clasped her friend's hand, grinning, "That's awesome Rubes," she said, "When is your guys' date?"

"Next week at the movies," Ruby squealed, then she patted Ariel, whom she'd already shared the news with earlier, on the arm and added, "And Ariel has big news too!"

Ariel nodded her head enthuisiasticly and motioned with her hands as she said, "Well, you know how I sent my clothes designs to that one contest?"

Belle nodded, feeling her excitement return.

"Well, I won!" Ariel announced, and Ruby squealed.

"Ariel, that's great!" Belle cheered.

"Uh-uh, I'm not done," Ariel shushed her, and then said, "The prize was that my designs get created at this company for a month in Riverway, and they're paying for me to go there and meet with them, and you know what the best part is? I get to bring four friends!"

Belle and Ruby both squealed in their excitement, earning another amused chuckle from Ruby's grandmother.

Ariel's smile widened as she added, "I'm bringing you two, and then MM of course, and then I'm also bringing Emma, if she'll go".

The three of them spent the next hour discussing how they would spend the two days they would be spending in the nearby, but much larger town of Riverway.

XOXOXOX

 _Hope you guys liked this chapter, and here's just a hint for the next chapter, "While the girls are away, Rumplestiltskin will play". Plus in the upcoming chapters, Our dear Rumple and Belle meet something very "Wicked."_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: While the Girls are away Rumplestiltskin will play

It turned out that Emma would be able to go along with Belle and the rest of their friends to the larger city of Riverway.

Though Belle didn't see Mr. Gold again before she left with her friends, she did however make sure to tell the hospital that she was going to be gone for the weekend.

Dr. Wales had assured her that he would personally check in on the Pawnbroker while she was gone, or at least, that was what the doctor had told Mr. Gold as they ran through his usual check-up.

"Alright, I think tomorrow we'll do another check-up, and perhaps a visit to the hospital, and if you're all clear after that, we won't have to bother Ms. French or you with these check-ups, Mr. Gold," Dr. Wales said as he scribbled something down on his clipboard.

Mr. Gold pursed his lips from where he was sitting on the cot in the back of his shop, listening to the doctor's report.

Mr. Gold felt a crushing disappointment in his chest, not because he was unhappy with the medical report saying he was in the all clear, but because that meant he'd be seeing less of the beautiful Ms. French.

Somehow, during their chats, the friendly yet feisty nightguard of his museum had managed to steal something far more precious than anything he owned in the museum, something he had thought only belonged to his two sons, his heart.

A small smile tugged at his lips as Mr. Gold imagined what it would be like to know her as more than just a friend, or employee, but as his lover?

He didn't just want her for some drunken one night stand like he'd had once with Emma, or a failed marriage with her like he'd had with Milah. No, he wanted forever from her . . . unfortunately, there was no way that she would ever feel the same way about him.

"Mm, someone on your mind Mr. Gold?" Dr. Wale asked, snapping Mr. Gold out of his inner fantasies.

The pawnbroker looked up at him, and frowned when he saw the knowing smirk on the doctor's face.

Mr. Gold snorted and waved a hand through the air, "Hardly, now if you will excuse me, I have rent to collect".

The blonde haired doctor shrugged, still smirking, but allowed himself to be herded outside of the pawnshop, before he headed back towards the hospital, leaving Mr. Gold alone to lock his shop up before heading out.

Right as he was getting into his black Cadillac, his phone beeped, alerting him to a text message. He quickly took his phone out and checked it.

Bae: Hey dad, can we go see Cap. America: Civil war today? It just came out, please?!

Mr. Gold smiled. He knew that the movie would have to be very important to his eldest son if he was willing to go see it without Henry, since Mr. Gold had dropped Henry off at Regina's place yesterday evening.

With a quick call to Dove to ask the man if he could collect rent for him this month, which as always was a yes, Mr. Gold texted his son back that they could go see the movie and he would be home in a few minutes to pick him up.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X

"And then, this huge wave splashed over the deck, and about washed me and the crew over the side," Killian Jones said, his blue eyes gleaming with excitement as he told them about his adventures aboard the fishing vessal, the Jolly Roger.

He, Belle, Ruby, Emma, Mary Margaret and Ariel's Fashion friend, Jasmine were sitting around the Girls' hotel room, swapping stories while they waited for Ariel to get back from her interview with a Fashion designer magazine owner.

Killian and Jasmine had joined their little group soon after Ariel had introduced them all, and in Belle's opinion, both were good-hearted people.

Killian and Ariel, according to the two, had once been engaged, but after several fights about his constantly being away, they had split, only to later become good friends again. Though both had lost interest in each other romantically.

Speaking of romance . . .

Belle leaned back on the bed she and Ruby were sharing, and sighed.

Dr. Wale had texted her earlier that day to let her know that after tomorrow if everything went well, then she wouldn't have to check up on Mr. Gold every day.

Not that she wasn't glad he was alright, it did however sadden her to know that she'd be seeing less of him. And the only times she'd most likely be seeing him were when they were in the role of employer and employee. Not the most romantic relationship in the world.

No, Belle thought determinedly to herself, she wouldn't just let all their potential fall away just like that. Somehow, she would have to gather all her courage and show him how she felt.

But then again, what if he didn't want to be anywhere near her again if he thought she liked him? What if he thought she merely liked him for his money? What if—?

"It's almost supper-time," Emma said, standing up, her joints popping as she stretched. "I'm going to go get us some chow? Any ideas?"

Belle shook her head, "No idea, I've never been to Riverway".

"Same, my waitress salary doesn't allow for much," Ruby sighed in agreement from where she was laying on the bed beside Belle.

"Oooh!" Jasmin squealed, and elbowed Mary Margaret in the ribs. "Remember that one resteraunt we went to with Killian and Ariel, MM? We should totally get take out from there!"

Emma raised an eyebrow, "What's it called?" she asked, making her way over to the door that led out into the hallway.

"The Enchanted Castle," Killian said, and he stood up too, stretching, "It's a bit tricky getting there, so I'll come with you love".

Emma sighed, "Fine, let's go".

Ruby snickered as the two of them left, and then burst into full on laughter once they were out of ear-shot.

"Oh, they so cute together" Mary Margaret gushed.

While her friends chatted excitedly about the likelihood of Emma and Killian getting together, Belle went back to fantasying about Mr. Gold and their future.

She imagined what it would be like to see him every morning when she went down to breakfast, with his hair all messy, and a bright smile on his face.

"Hey sweatheart," he would say, and pull her into his arms, where she would kiss him breathless, and when she pulled back, she would see the adorable way he would gaze into her eyes, like he couldn't quite believe that she wanted him the way he did. Or the way he would shyly kiss her back or hold her hand as they played board games or watched movies with Bae and Henry, when Henry was with his father anyways.

Suddenly Ruby plowed into Belle, knocking her flat onto her back on the bed.

"Ruby, what the—?" Belle stuttered, pushing her friend off of her.

"Okay, who he is? You've had that moony look on your face all day, who is he? Spill it Bluebelle," Ruby demanded, while Mary Margaret and Jasmine joined them on their bed, their faces smiling.

"What? I'm not mooning! Belle squeaked, her face reddening in embaressment.

Ruby grinned and poked Belle in the side, "Oh yes you are," she insisted.

Jasmine grinned and laughed, "If Ruby says there's a boy on your mind Belle, then there is. That woman could sniff out a crush a mile away".

Ruby smiled, "Why thank you," she said, and then turned back to face Belle, "Now spill, who is he?"

Belle sighed and shrugged, looking down at her hands situated in her lap. "It doesn't matter Ruby, I don't even know if he feels the same way."

Jasmine leaned over and squeezed Belle's hand, "Then you have to find out Belle," she said. "Believe me, I bet you he does like you, but is just being shy. Some men are like that".

Mary Margaret nodded, "Mm-hm, David was like that. Katheryn, his last girlfriend dumped him for some jock, and he was really worried that I didn't like him before we started going out".

Belle, Jasmine and Ruby squealed.

"You didn't tell us you were finally going out with him MM," Ruby said, and then shook Mary Margaret excitedly, "Details, let's hear the details"

X0X0X0X0X

Mr. Gold groaned, his head felt like it was being crushed between slabs of stone.

He rolled over on his bed, his legs getting twisted up in his blankets, and he stifled a sob. The last thing he wanted was for Bae to worry about him, espicailly since they'd had such a good time at the movies.

Suddenly the pain faded, and everything went black.

When Mr. Gold woke, his mind was blank, he didn't remember his life, or his sons, or even what Milah had done to him during their last year married. However, he did remember the deal that pretty night guard had made with him, and he also remembered how much fun he'd had while toying with her.

He grinned, and wondered just how much fun he would have with the rest of the town . . . and maybe, just maybe, he would go see that girl again.

X0X0X0X0X

"Okay, so you know the plan about when Belle gets back right?" Bae said, speaking softly into the hand held radio while he lay beneath the covers on his bed. If his papa found out what they were up to, then all their planning would be for nothing.

Henry snorted, "Of course, but our plan needs a name . . . hm,"

Bae's younger brother went silent for a few moments, and all they could hear was each other breathing over the radios, then Henry spoke up excitedly.

"I've got it, let's call it Operation Cobra!"

Bae frowned, "But that has nothing to do with our plan".

Bae imagined his younger brother grinning when Henry replied excitedly, "Exactly, that way no one will know what it's about! Besides, I've got two more operatives on our side, both my moms, but they don't know everything so we'll have to use a codename so they don't get suspicious to what we're up to".

Bae grinned, silently thanking his younger brother for being so clever, "Well, Operation Cobra it is".


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Something Wicked

What's happening? Mr. Gold wondered as he stared up at his museum, or more accurately, what had been his museum.

It now greatly resembled a towering castle, with dense undergrowth surrounding it. Each tower had to be at least sixty to seventy feet high, and much to his shock, the castle doors were open. Almost as if inviting someone to come inside.

Looks like Rumplestiltskin has struck again, he thought, trying to figure out how to see through the illusion. After all, what else could it be? Certainly not real, right?

Having gathered up his courage, he quickly gave Sheriff Gram a text to alert him to the situation, then he ventured inside the imposing residence to find out what had become of Night guard Gaston.

Inside, the castle was still just as impressive.

The entry hall was fairly deserted, save for a rug leading across the floor towards a set of massive oak wood doors.

Mr. Gold's footsteps echoed hauntingly as he pushed the massive doors open, only to find himself in what could only be described as a Great Hall.

A long wooden table dominated the room, along with petistools that showcased many of his museum's smaller exibits, including swords, ancient masks, and in the corner of the room, on a raised up platform, was an antique spinning wheel.

Beautiful isn't it? A small voice whispered hypnotically to him, and suddenly, as if under a trance, he explored more of the room, casually touching some of the former exibits with his fingertips.

It really was beautiful, he thought, his mind sluggish.

Then, suddenly as if a switch had been flipped in him, he shook himself and went back to looking for his night guard.

As Mr. Gold wandered the corridors, he found that for the most part, the interior of the castle was identical to that of his museum, though on a much larger scale.

He stepped into what appeared to be the research room, or back room of his museum, and found that it looked much more like a dungeon than what he had been expecting.

In fact, there were three large wooden doors that all led into medium sized cells, complete with cots in them, along with a tiny barred window at the back of each cell.

Once again, Mr. Gold found himself wondering how in the world this was all possible.

"Mr. Gold?" Gram's voice echoed from down stairs.

After a final glance around the dungeon room, Mr. Gold turned and made his way back down to the Great Hall where he found Gram investigating the room, trying to see past the illusion. Much like Mr. Gold had done when he'd first entered the castle.

"Find anything, Sheriff?" Mr. Gold asked, pausing in the entryway to the Great Hall.

Gram jumped in surprise and spun around.

A moment later he relaxed and chuckled, "Scared me out of my skin there, Mr. Gold".

Mr. Gold shrugged, "Sorry". He stepped into the room and motioned towards the artifacts now resting on petistools around the room, and added, "Whoever's pranking this was, they certainly knew what they were doing. I can't find a flaw in their little illusion."

Gram frowned and folded his arms across his chest, a thoughtful look in his eyes, "I'm beginning to wonder if it is a prank".

Mr. Gold snorted in disbelieve, "You can't believe that this . . . Rumplestiltskin, actually possess magic can you?"

Gram shrugged, "How to explain what's been happening then?"

Mr. Gold opened his mouth to reply but then thought better of it and shrugged, "Let's just go find Mr. Knight, shall we?"

Mr. Gold walked out of the room, leaving Gram no choice but to follow him through the corridors.

"I've already checked upstairs. He wasn't there," Mr. Gold informed Gram, who nodded, and instantly went into search and rescue mode.

They headed around the corner and found a staircase, off to the left and another hallway continuing to the right. Gram took his flashlight out and snapped the light on. He shone the beam down the dark stairs that led into the basement of the castle and went down. Mr. Gold followed him.

They went down two flights of stairs before reaching the main room in the basement, which was made purely of golden-brown stone, and to their surprise, had torches along the walls that were already lit.

Gram shone the flashlight's beam around, though the lit torches provided plenty of light to see by.

" _Stupid isn't he?"_ a hoarse shadowy voice whispered.

Mr. Gold's head snapped up and he looked around, trying to find the person that had spoken to him. After having no such luck, Mr. Gold turned back to Gram, and said, "Did you hear that?"

Gram glanced back at him, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Hear what?" He asked.

"He's basically death too. How'd he ever become sheriff?" the voice whispered again, and Mr. Gold suddenly felt light-headed.

"Mr. Gold?" Gram asked. He looked worried.

Rather than answer him, Mr. Gold brushed past him and went into the next room, feeling as though something were guiding him.

Gram's footsteps followed him into the room.

This room was darker and had only one torch lighting it.

Mr. Gold could see that there were two more doorways in this room that led off into different areas of the basement.

Suddenly a loud scream echoed from the room off to Mr. Gold's right. Gram instantly pointed the flashlight's beam into the room, his white beginning to turn white, his eyes wide.

"Who's there?" he shouted.

"P-please, d-don't hurt m-me," a young woman cried out from the room. She held her hands up in defense, and flinched away from the flashlight beam.

Gram lowered the flashlight a little and said firmly, "It's alright, we won't hurt you. Just come into the room, and show us that you're unarmed."

The woman did as she was told, and as she stepped into the room they were in, Mr. Gold could see that she had fiery red hair and bright green eyes.

Gram gave her a once over to check her for any concealed weapons then he stepped back and asked gently, "What's your name, miss?"

"Zelena," she said.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X

"Mm," Belle murmured appreciatively as she took a bite of her ice cream(chocolate chip with bits of mint).

She and her friends had just finished their dinner and were starting in on their various ice creams.

Belle was sitting on her and Ruby's bed, squished in between Mary Margaret and Ruby. Killian, Jasmine, Ariel and Emma were all squished together on the other bed.

Ruby twirled her spoon in the air and then dipped it into her strawberry and caramel ice cream and then asked, her eyes twinkling in mischief, "So . . . is it Dr. Wales? Cause I could totally see you together!"

Belle nearly spat out of her mouthful of ice cream at that image, and had to swallow hard before she answered, "No! It's definitely not him. We're just friends".

"Hm," Ruby narrowed her dark green eyes at Belle, who stared right back at her, and continued to eat her ice cream.

Mary Margaret sighed and set her bowl down on her lap, before she turned to Belle and asked, "Can you at least give us a hint?"

Ariel laughed, "With Belle's clever mind, we'd still never figure it out".

Belle smiled at that, and said, "Exactly," before she popped another mouthful of ice cream into her mouth.

Killian raised an eyebrow and smirked, "If you ever get tired of wondering if the mysterious guy likes you, you can always switch to team Killian," he teased.

Emma snorted, "Get a life, Killian".

Killian glanced over at her, his spoon halfway to his mouth. He raised the hand that still held the spoon in it, above his head and gestured towards where Belle, Mary Margaret and Ruby were sitting and said: "I'm the only man in a room full of ladies, I think all of my dreams have been answered, Miss Swan."

Everyone in the room save for Emma laughed at this.

Ruby set her empty bowl down behind her and then turned back to face Belle. She pulled her legs up onto the bed and propped her head up on her hands, peering at Belle intently.

"Hm, is it Dr. Jekyll?" Ruby asked.

"No," Belle said, and looked over Ruby's head at Emma who was the only one seemingly uninterested in the ice cream, and instead was doing something on her smart-phone.

"Is he even a doctor?" Mary Margaret asked.

"No," Belle said. She took the last bite of her ice cream and stood up, reaching over to grab Ruby's empty bowl before she headed into the kitchen area.

Just as Belle walked back into the main part of the hotel room, Emma cried out, "Ah-hah!"

Belle made her way over to the deputy and peered down at her phone in curiosity.

"What is it Emma?" Mary Margaret asked, and made her way over to where the rest of them were, Ruby just behind her.

Emma stood up and nearly bumped heads with Belle, who instantly back pedaled to avoid a collision.

"I've found out who your deliveryman was, Belle. And he lives right here in Riverway." Emma explained excitedly.

Finally! Maybe now we can get some answers about that dagger, Belle thought. But she said aloud, "Great! Let's go see him".

X0X0X0X0X0X0X

"So that was what were you doing in my museum, Ms. Greene," Mr. Gold said, raising an eyebrow.

He, Gram and Zelena Greene were standing in the police station, going over what had happened to Zelena and what might have happened to Gram.

According to Zelena, she had merely been visiting the town when she had been attacked and kidnapped by Rumplestiltskin who had pretty much left to wander the basement, where they later found her. Also according to her, she hadn't seen sight or sound of Gaston Knight.

Zelena nodded, and clutched her cup of hot coco tighter, she still looked very frightened. Though for some reason, Gold had the feeling she was much stronger than she was letting on.

Gram smiled gently at her, and patted Zelena on the shoulder, trying to soothe her. "Just have a seat in my office chair, Zelena," he said, "And Mr. Gold will watch over you while I go phone the hospital so that we can get a doctor to have a look at you."

Mr. Gold looked over at the sheriff in surprise, "Your phone doesn't work in here?" he asked.

Gram shook his head, "No, Rumplestiltskin trashed the place last night while I was out on patrol. And my cell-phone never has service, so I'll have to go next door to Mrs. Burton's toy store and use her phone, but don't worry, I'll be right back".

Once Gram was out of the police station, Zelena set her mug down on Gram's desk and smiled evilly, a malicious look in her bright green eyes.

"Finally," she said, sounding very pleased, "I thought he'd never leave."

Mr. Gold tilted his head to the side, confused. He was about to snap at her and ask her what she meant, when suddenly the room began to spin, and his stomach lurched.

"Ah, poor darling," Zelena cooed in a sickeningly sweet voice as she stood over him as he slowly sunk to the floor, "Your magic still overwhelms you it seems. Oh, well, when my curse takes effect you won't have to worry about that anymore. Anyway it just makes my task easier".

Mr. Gold looked up at her as she cupped his face in one of her hands while she pulled something out of her jacket pocket.

"What are—" he started to say but then cried out in pain as she stabbed him with a tiny knife looking thing.

She then took a flask out of her pocket and set it carefully on the desk, while still holding the tiny knife in her other hand. She grabbed the mug with her newly freed hand and dumped its contents onto the floor and then set it back down on the desk.

She poured the contents of the flask into the mug and then wiggled the tiny knife over the mug so that a drop of his blood fell into it.

Suddenly the room was engulfed by a strange purple smoke that made Mr. Gold's skin tingle then everything went black.

X0X0X0X0X0X0

In front of Belle and Emma, the door to house 103 on Lake street, opened to reveal a little girl no older than Henry.

"Can I help you?" she asked, peering up at them with bright blue eyes.

"Yes, is Jefferson Hatter home?" Emma asked, "We need to talk to him, it's really important".

The girl nodded and then called over her shoulder, "Dad! You have visitors!" before she disappeared back into the house, only to be replaced by a tall dark haired man with the same blue eyes the girl had had.

"Yes, what is it?" Jefferson said rather nervously, peering over Emma and Belle to see their friends waiting by the car. How they had gotten everyone into Mary Margaret's mini van was still a mystery to Belle.

"Do you remember delivering the Dark One's dagger to a museum in Storybrooke?" Belle asked him, hoping he actually was the right guy.

The man blinked once, twice, then said slowly, "You, I remember you. You were the night-guard with Mr. Gold".

"Yeah, well," Belle swallowed hard, and with her courage gathered, said, "We need your help. The dagger's gone missing".

"Missing!" Jefferson's eyes widened and he looked out his door to check to see if anyone was watching then backed up and ushered them inside, and called out for Killian, Ruby and the rest of Belle's friends to come in quickly.

"What's going on Dad?" the girl asked as her father ushered the group into his living room.

Jefferson turned to her and motioned towards a staircase and said urgently, "Go pack your things Grace, we're taking a trip to Storybrooke. The Dark One's back".

Grace nodded and rushed upstairs.

Jefferson turned back to them and asked, "The dagger, before it went missing, did anyone accidently cut themselves on it? Or get their blood on it in anyway?"

Belle nodded, "Yeah, I bumped into Mr. Gold while he was carrying it and he cut his hand on it, what has that have to do—"

"And you've seen a strange man then? One who possesses magic?" Jefferson pressed.

"How'd you know that?" Emma asked suspiciously, folding her arms across her chest in a defensive stance, while the others shifted uneasily.

"Because that's what happens to the Dark One after they first cut themselves." Jefferson motioned for them all to sit down and then sat down himself, and went on. "You see, a few years ago, my family encountered that dagger. My old friend, her name was Anastia. She cut her arm on it when she was goofing around, and that week, our city became plagued by a strange woman with magically powers."

"What does that have to do with—" Ruby started to say but Jasmine and Mary Margaret quickly shushed her while Killian added, "I remember that. She called herself the Red Queen".

Jefferson nodded, and said, "Well, that was Ana. Except she was darkened by the terrible curse of the Dark One, I suspect that the same thing has happened to your Mr. Gold".

"So you're saying that Mr. Gold is Rumplestiltskin," Emma said, sounding shocked.

"Rumplestiltskin? That's the name of the guy that's been causing problems at the museum? What kind of name is that?" Ruby exclaimed. "But why would Mr. Gold trash his own museum?"

Jasmine, Killian, and Mary Margaret all added their thoughts to the conversation.

So I was right, Belle thought, that dagger did do something to him. It cursed him.

"So how do we stop him from causing more mischief," Ariel asked, having to raise her voice to be heard above the others.

Jefferson's eyes darkened, "An act of true love will break his curse," he said, "But that is not what I'm worried about right now."  
"Then what are you worried about?" Belle asked, tilting her head to the side, her mind racing with hundreds of thoughts, all concerning her poor employer.

"A very vicious witch named Zelena," Jefferson said quietly, anger glinting in his eyes, "She tried to curse our town."

Jasmine and Killian's eyes both darkened, they clearly remembered it.

"So that's what was going on," Jasmine said, "I was wondering why everyone was starting to go nuts".

"Did Riverway's police know?" Killian asked, "Or just you family?"

"What about this Zelena?" Belle asked.

"You think she's going to come and try to do the same to Storybrooke, don't you?" Ruby said.

"If you already defeated her, then shouldn't she be dead or something?" Killian added.

Jefferson sighed, and ran his fingers though his short, but messy hair. "After Will broke Ana's curse with true love, Zelena vanished. But I have a feeling, she'll try again, no matter what it is she's trying to get out of this curse of hers".

"Then let's go, we have to stop her and save Mr. Gold," Emma said, standing up. Everyone else stood up too.

Mary Margaret turned to Emma and grabbed her wrist, preventing her form heading out to the van, "Emma, you had Henry with Mr. Gold, surely you can be his—"

"No," Emma said, "All I ever had with him was a one-night stand. A drunken one at that. It'll have to be either Henry or Baedden that does it".

Jefferson shook his head as Grace ran back into the room, dragging a small suitcase and her book-bag. "It doesn't work with kids or parents, it has to your soul-mate essentially. Believe me, we tried."

Instantly, all of Belle's friends panicked.

Well, if this was ever the time for the truth about her crush on Mr. Gold to come out, now was it.

Belle's tongue felt like lead as she forced herself to speak up: "Maybe I am."

Everyone turned to stare at her.

Ruby was the first to recover her voice, "What! That's who you're mooning over! Have you completely lost it? Just two weeks ago you were complaining to me and MM about how bossy and cold he was!"

Mary Margaret instantly voiced her concern after Ruby's outburst, "Belle! He's a beast even without the curse! How can you have feelings for him?"

Emma snorted and raised her voice above Ariel, Mary Margaret and Ruby's protests and said, "Look, if my kid likes him, then he isn't all thorns and thistles. And if Belle thinks she may be able to break his curse then that's our best shot."

Belle nodded, feeling more determined with Emma's support, "Once you get to know him, he's quite sweet. Now let's get back to Storybrooke and find him before Zelena does!"

 _Wow, I didn't expect this one to be so long . . . Anyway, I hope you guys are all enjoying this fanfic. Don't worry, there's more fluff to come between our beauty and beast, and maybe a bit of sideline romances too._

 _Special thanks to the following for leaving comments!_

 _Guestie, Guest, Victoria, musicbean2_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: The Price of Magic

When the strange purple smoke clears, Baedden finds that the Storybrooke arcade where he and his younger half-brother, Henry, were hanging out, has changed.

Rather than the arcade machines, long tables were set up, where kids were now playing card and board games, some of which, he had never seen. Not only that, but their clothes had changed as well, even Baedden and Henry's own clothing.

"Uh, what are we wearing? We look like the characters in my fairytale book," Henry said, pulling at his pale blue tunic.

Baedden looked down at his own dark green tunic and dark brown pants. He had to admit it, Henry was right. They looked like they had just jumped out of a Renasuance Fair.

What's going on? Baedden wondered, and then grabbed Henry's hand and led him out of the arcade.

"Wow, this looks exactly like the Enchanted Forest!" Henry exclaimed. His dark brown eyes were wide with disbelief and awe.

Baedden glanced around, his own eyes were wide.

What had once been Storybrooke now looked like a medieval village with two castles on either end. One near where Henry's mom, Regina lived, and the other where their father's museum had been.

"Come on Henry," Baedden said, grabbing his younger brother's hand, "Let's go find Papa. I'm sure he knows what's going on".

They headed towards where their father's shop had once stood. But before they could even reach the street that the shop had stood on, they encountered the sheriff.

"Gram!" Henry ran forward to meet the sheriff, who was now dressed like them with a simple brown tunic, pants and leather boots.

"Do you know what's going on sheriff?" Baedden asked the man once he'd caught up with them.

Gram stared wide eyed at them, and backed up a little, "I already have enough troubles with your mom," he said to Henry, "I'm not getting on the Dark one's bad side too".

Before Baedden or Henry could ask what he meant, Gram had already sprinted off, heading towards the smaller of the two castles.

What the huh? Baedden thought, his face wrinkled up in confusion. He knew from his father that a strange man named Rumplestiltskin had been terrorizing his father's museum; was that same strange man responsible for what had happened to Storybrooke?

Beside him, Henry folded his arms across his chest, a thoughtful look on his face. After a moment, he turned to Baedden and said, "Baedden, I have a bad feeling about this. Let's go to Papa's shop, its closer than his house."

Baedden turned to face his ten year old brother, "I'm sure there's a logical explanation, Henry. It's probably some gas-induced mass halucin—"

"Oh, no, your brother was right the first time, kid," A low growly voice said from behind them. There was a hint of amusement in the man's tone.

Both boys spun around to see one of the drunkards of the town, a man named Keith Nottingham standing behind them.

Keith had dark brown hair, with a scruffy looking mustache and had pale blue eyes. Unlike everyone they had encountered so far, he was wearing a knight's armor.

Keith was smiling down at them coldly, with a malicious look in his eyes that Baedden didn't like what so ever.

Quietly, Baedden moved in front of Henry, who was staring nervously up at the big man in front of them. Baedden then, remembering his father's words, stuck his chin up, and met Keith's eyes, trying to appear confident.

"Leave us alone, Keith," Baedden said, "Or we'll call the sheriff".

Keith's lips twisted up into a vicious sneer and he snickered, "I am the sheriff." Once he'd managed to get control of himself again, Keith pulled out his sword which came free of it's sheathe with a metallic hiss. "Now, I think it's best if you boys come with me," his pale blue eyes flicked to Henry's face and he added, "Specially you, Your mommy will be so pleased to see you".

"What are you talking about," Baedden snapped, "You're drunk Keith, go away."

It honestly didn't surprise Baedden one bit that Keith was acting strange. The older man had once broken into the museum in the middle of the night, and had thought he was dueling with a pirate when Ms. French had found him.

"Baedden," Henry whispered, tugging on his older brother's sleeve, "We need to run, I think Rumplestiltskin did something to everyone".

Though Baedden himself had thought the same thing a bit earlier, he didn't think that his younger brother meant everyone was hallucinating. Henry thought that the strange man had cast a spell.

"Now come on kids," Keith said, taking a step closer.

Baedden may not have believed in magic, but he certainly knew danger when he saw it. Heart pounding, he reached for the pepper spray in his pants pocket.

Quick as a snake, Keith lunged forward and grabbed hold of Baedden's wrist, and pulled him close.

"Henry run!" Baedden shouted.

But before Henry could, a strange lilting voice said behind them, "Now, what do you think you're doing dearie?"

Baedden felt Keith stiffen, his grip on Baedden's wrist loosing enough that the fifteen year old was able to twist free.

He stumbled back, but quickly managed to catch his balance before he collided with Henry, who'd frozen up, mouth hanging open, and eyes wide.

As soon as Baedden looked up, he caught sight of what had surely shocked his younger brother.

"Papa?" Baedden asked softly.

His father was standing just behind Keith, but he didn't look quite the same as he once had.

His eyes had become reptilian, and his skin had become a golden green color, while his nails had turned into claws. He was wearing black leather pants, a pair of boots, and a red silken shirt with a brown leather vest over it.

"R-R Rumpl-Rumplsetiltskin," Keith stammered, jerking back away from the pawnbroker, a wild look of pure fear in his eyes. His sword clattered to the ground, and Keith spluttered, "I-uh, I was uh".

Papa can't be Rumplestiltskin, Baedden thought, why would, why would he steal his own museum's dagger? Or-or cause trouble at the-the museum, and an—

He felt himself begin to tremble. This isn't my father, this isn't my father. It's just a bad dream, this isn't my father, he told himself over and over silently.

Rumplestiltskin pointed his index finger at Keith, his lips twisting into an angry snarl, "You were going to bring them to the Queen, weren't you?" he hissed in his high-pitched voice.

Keith backed away slowly, holding up his hands in surrender. "N-no," he stammered, attempting to smile reassuringly, "I-I".

Rumplestiltskin closed his fist and Keith started clawing at his own neck, making a little gasping noise.

"Papa, stop!" Henry cried.

Rumplestiltskin's head snapped up, his hand falling to his side. Keith instantly drew in a deep breath, and then promptly fled, not glancing back even once.

"You're, you're the Dark one, aren't you, Papa?" Henry said in a small voice. His lower lip trembled and Baedden could see tears forming in his eyes.

The anger vanished from Rumplestiltskin's expression and was replaced with an apologetic look. He opened his arms, and Henry, after a moment of hesitation, ran over to him, and threw his arms around his father's waist.

Rumplestiltskin wrapped one arm around Henry in a hug, murmuring soothingly to Baedden's younger brother before looking up at Baedden himself.

"You okay Bae?" Rumplestiltskin asked; his voice gentle. There was a tender look in the warlock's eyes that matched Baedden's father's whenever he comforted an upset Baedden.

Baedden shook his head, feeling tears starting to drip down his face in quick succession. He bit his lower lip and sniffled, "You're not my father," he whimpered.

There was no such thing as magic, there wasn't!

"Bae," Rumplestiltskin said. His voice was still gentle, but now there was a note of worry in his voice.

Henry turned slightly in his father's embrace, and said, "Baedden it's okay! He's just under a curse, like everyone else!"

"No, no, there's no such thing as magic!" Badden shouted, then directed his next words at Rumplestiltskin, "You're lying, you're not my father!"

Then he did the only thing that felt safe and familiar, he ran.

"What the—" Ariel breathed.

Belle nodded in silent agreement, her wide eyes focused on what had once been the town of Storybrooke.

She and the others were standing in the middle of the road just outside of Storybrooke. Upon seeing the historic looking buildings and the two castles, they had decided it was best to leave the two cars hidden in the undergrowth and out of sight.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Killian asked.

"We find Gold," Emma snorted. She rolled her eyes at him.

"And after that?" Jasmine asked, tilting her head to the side. "Does Belle just go up and kiss him or what?" she asked, gesturing towards Belle who was standing beside her and Ruby.

Jefferson shook his head, "If he's fully succumbed to his curse then I doubt he'll remember being in love with her, if he was."

Ruby smirked, "So I need to teach our dear Belle how to seduce him—"

Belle shook her head, "Ruby! If he suspects anything we're—"

"Ms. French!" a familiar voice shouted.

They all spun around in time to see Baedden tearing out of the nearby undergrowth, gasping for breath and his face tear-streaked.

"Baedden," Belle said just before the teenager plowed into her, his whole body shaking.

The others crowded around them, all of them, even Grace and Jefferson wearing looks of concern.

"What happened?" Emma asked, "Where's you dad?"

Baedden bit his lower lip and pulled away from Belle, his eyes focused on Grace.

Instantly, Belle realized he was trying to put on a brave face.

Belle rested her hand on his shoulder, and said gently, "It's okay Baedden, deep breaths".

The fifteen year old nodded and did as he was told, and wiped his eyes. Once he'd calmed down a bit, he said, "My papa, he's the dark one. But . . . he . . it . . . magic can't be real".

"Baedden, I know you're in shock, but it's really important that we find your father," Belle said, "We know what can save him from the Dark One's curse, we just—"

"Not exactly sure how to do it," Killian offered.

"Don't worry kid," Emma said, resting her hand on his other shoulder, "We'll save him, I promise".

"And we'll beat Zelena while we're at it!" Grace added.

Baedden's eyes flickered over where Grace stood at her father's side, then he looked back at Belle. A look of sudden determination flickered over his face and he nodded. "Then let's do it".


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: The Deal

Rumplestiltskin left Henry at his castle, making sure to put up all sorts of magical barriers to ensure the Evil Queen wouldn't once again take his son from him. Now, he just needed to find Bae and figure out what had happened to his once loving and loyal son.

He had started that day out merely going out to attend to a few deals around the kingdom, and when he'd arrived back home, both sons had vanished.

Their strange behavier when he had found them made him wonder if Keith had somehow managed to do something to them. Prehaps a potion from that meddlesome fairy? Though Henry had snapped out of it fairly quickly.

Rumplestiltskin shook himself. There was no time to wonder about what had occurred now. First he had to find his eldest son before someone else did.

X0X0X0X0X0

Quietly, the group of them snuck into the town.

For the most part, it truly did look like a medieval village, but Belle, being the book-aholic she was, easily recognized things that were out of place. The most obvious being the paved road going through the middle of the town, or how many of the shops and bars that had been in Storybrooke still had the same names in the Medieval version of it.

"Alright Baedden, where was the last place you saw your father? We should start our search there," Emma asked, turning to face the teenager.

The others clustered around the two, causing several passerby to glance at them curiously.

We need to find some clothes to borrow so we don't stand out so much, Belle thought, her eyes trailing over her group of allies. With their modern day clothing, they stuck out in the town like a sore thumb.

Baedden rubbed the side of his arm with his free hand, looking slightly worried. "It was near where the arcade used to be . . . wherever that is now." The young teenager sighed and shook his head in frustration, "I don't know where anything is now! It all looks the same to me".

Emma groaned and rubbed her temples with her fingers, "If Henry were with us, I bet he could easily find his way through this place. He loves anything to do with fairytales".

Mary Margaret nodded in agreement while Belle shrugged. Emma was right. Henry, despite only being ten, was almost as good at picking out details as his father was.

But then again, Henry was with his father. Or at least Baedden had thought he was since Henry had been happy to see their father before Baedden had taken off.

Mary Margaret tapped the side of her chin with her forefinger. Suddenly, the blacked haired teacher looked up, her green eyes gleaming with sudden excitement.

She turned to Baedden, saying, "You said Keith was afraid of Mr. Gold. Maybe, since everyone seems to have fake memories, they know where we can find him".

Belle smiled, it seemed that their luck was beginning to turn around.

"Yeah," Belle agreed, "But first let's try and change clothes. We stand out too much."

Ariel tilted her head to the side, a puzzled frown adorning her mouth. "But if we looked different, wouldn't that make them scared of us, so that if we asked them something, they would tell us?" She asked.

Jefferson pulled his daughter close to him, and shook his head. "Doubtful. Rumplestiltskin is quite powerful, being the Dark one and all. Most likely they would fear his wrath more than fear what we could possibly do."

Killian gestured towards Baedden and said in an annoyed tone, "Well, if Baedden and Henry's distress caused dear old dad to show up, then maybe if Baedden yells a bit, it'll attract Gold".

Emma snorted, and rolled her eyes. "Yes, and then what? He'll think we were hurting him".

Baedden nodded, giving Emma a shy smile. "Miss Emma's right. My papa didn't take Keith trying to hurt us so well. He would try and attack you all".

Belle was about to suggest that they split up so as to accomplish finding out where Rumple now lived and to get more clothes before regrouping, when suddenly a silky sweet, and smug voice spoke behind them.

"Well, Well, Well. This isn't like you Snow, you're not usually stupid enough to gallivant about with your little friends in broad daylight".

They all spun around to see Regina standing behind them.

Or who had once been Regina.

Regina's hair, once shoulder length, was now cascading down her back in black ringlets. While her modest business attire skirt and blouse was replaced by a floor length black gown with puffy purple sleeves and purple fabric on the sides of her gown. On her head was a sparkling silver tiara. Behind Regina were several knights, all with their swords drawn. Slowly, the knights began to fan out and circle them.

Regina smiled at them, a malicious look in her eyes.

Belle felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She didn't like the look Regina was giving them, not one bit.

Regina's brown eyed gaze swept over them one by one, lastly resting on Mary Margaret. Almost instantly, her lips curled into a sneer.

"I'm going to enjoy this, Snow," Regina smiled evilly. Her eyes gleamed with a malicious sparkle.

Slowly, almost as if she were savoring the process, she raised her right hand, which suddenly had a medium sized flame hovering above it.

Jefferson instantly shoved Grace behind him, muttering a soft curse under his breath. While Emma's eyes widened in disbelief, and Mary Margaret looked like she was in shock.

"Regina . . ." Baedden whispered, his eyes wide, "What happened to you?"

The evil queen's eyes flickered over to where Baedden stood, and reconization sparked in her deep brown eyes.

For a moment, Belle thought Regina had regained her lost memories but then another evil smile tugged at the older woman's mouth.

"Well, isn't this my lucky day," she purred, the flame in her hand going out as she stood up straight. She turned her head and met Baedden's gaze, a smirk on her lips now. "The Dark One's eldest son and—" her gaze flickered over to rest on Mary Margaret's face, "Snow White, both in the same place."

"Shall we kill the boy M'lady?" one of the knights asked, coming closer to Baedden. Emma reached out instinctively and pulled him behind her and Belle.

"No, I want his heart," Regina said, "His, and Snow White's".

Then suddenly, before anyone could react, they were engulfed in purple smoke.

XX0X0X0X0X0

When the smoke cleared, Rumplestiltskin found himself face to face with his son's comrades, among whom was Snow White.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of that. But at this point, he truly didn't care. He was just glad his son was safe and back with him.

He didn't speak right away, and instead let them get their bearings on their rooftop meeting with him.

He curled his lips into a menacing smile and tsked at them.

They stared at him. All with looks of shock on their faces.

"Bae, come here, now," Rumplestiltskin said to his son. He made sure his tone was firm and authoritative but not enough so that he would scare his son. He kept the gentle look in his eyes as his boy turned to face him.

He felt a twinge of fear and sadness at the unease showing on Baedden's face, but then to his relief, the boy silently obeyed.

He met his son's gaze and asked him quietly, "Are you hurt?"

Baedden shook his head.

Rumplestiltskin wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders, crushing him against his torso. He rested his chin on the top of his son's head, eyes glaring at the people in front of him.

"You have done me a service by protecting my son," he said, narrowing his eyes at them. "However, since your—" he swept his gaze over their strange clothing, "Intentions are unknown to me, I will make sure you won't cross me in the future."

"Papa." Baedden whispered, tugging on his father's shirt. "Don't hurt them, they haven't done anything wrong".

Rumple looked at his son, thinking for a moment, then he turned back to the small crowd of people and hissed, "I'll make you a deal".

He raised his free hand and gestured wildly about as he said, "I'll let the rest of you go free if one of you comes with me as my caretaker for my rather large estate".

"Deal!" one of the brown haired women shouted, stumbling forward.

The woman's blue eyes were shining with determination, and she held his gaze steadily, seemingly unafraid. It unsettled him.

He point his index finger at her and trilled, "It's forever dearie".

The woman looked back at her allies, then turned back to face him.

"My friends, they'll be safe, and you won't bother them?" she questioned.

Rumplestiltskin smiled, "You have my word."

"Then you have mine," the woman said.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: Home sweet Castle

When the smoke cleared, Belle found herself standing in the great hall of a castle. All around her were interesting items similar to those that had been in Mr. Gold's museum, now standing on petistools.

In the middle of the room, just behind them was a long table with one chair at the end. In the far corner of the room was a raised platform with a spinning wheel on it.

"Papa! You're back!" Henry shouted gleefully, running over to them. He was wearing a simple home-spun tunic and pants.

Rumplestiltskin gave Henry a hug more than happily, and looked up at Bae with a hopeful look in his eyes. Baedden smiled at his dad and wrapped his arms around both him and Henry in a hug. Rumplestiltskin made a content little noise in the back of his throat at having both of his sons safe and sound in his arms.

It made Belle smile.

Suddenly Rumplestiltskin seemed to remember she was there. He let go of his sons and swept them behind him, his eyes narrowed at her warily.

Belle frowned, a deep ache tugging at her heart, knowing that that look for was for her. That he no longer cared for her, that he didn't even know her.

"You," he grinned, his eyes sparkling with malicious delight. He stepped closer to her, wagging his index finger at her. "You are now my maid." He gestured around the room with an elegant flourish of his hand. "You will dust my collections, and sweep the floors."

Belle nodded, "I understand," she said. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to see the man she loved in this strange man.

He had the same body shape, same hair color, though his hair was more curly now. He was still dressed rather elegantly, though now in leathers and silks than in his usual suits. And he still had the same distrusting look in his eyes that he had first had when they had met for the first time.

"You will cook our meals, and do the laundry," he added, his grin fading when he glanced back at his now silent offspring standing to the side. When his eyes flickered back to hers, there was suspicion in them. "And you will stay away from my sons."

Her eyes automatically flickered to Baedden and Henry, both who'd been whispering consipiraously while their father told Belle what her chores would be, were now looking at her with a saddened look on their faces.

"But papa!" Henry instantly complained.

"Of course," Belle said quickly, trying to keep Rumplestiltskin's attention on her. Unfortunately, she had no such luck.

Rumplestiltskin turned back around to face his son, his facial expression gentler now. "Henry, it's for the best. I don't want the possibility of her hurting either of you. You mean too much to me for me to let that happen".

Henry opened his mouth to protest again, but Baedden nodded quickly, having caught on to what Belle had instantly thought off as an opportunity.

"You're right Papa. She could be very dangerous," Baedden agreed, seemingly more relaxed around his father now. The teenager glanced over at Belle, "Can you keep an eye on her? It'd make me feel safer".

Rumplestiltskin looked immensely pleased at his eldest son's words. He smiled at Baedden and affectionately ruffled the boy's hair. "I'll keep you both safe, Bae, I promise," he vowed.

X0X0X0X0X0X0

Rumplestiltskin's heart leapt at his son's words. He was immensely relieved that whatever spell on been put on Bae had finally worn off.

He smiled at them, his chest puffing out a little in pride at the sight of his two boys being so mature about understanding what needed to be done.

"Alright," Rumplestiltskin murmured, "Henry, Bae, why don't you both go on up to your room, I'll come get you when I've shown the help to her room".

The boys nodded, and Henry led the way out of the great hall, chatting quietly with Baedden as they disappeared out of sight.

Rumplestiltskin took a deep breath to compose himself and turned around to face the girl. He didn't know why he'd asked for one of them to come with him. It had been a stupid idea really, but then again, many of the ideas that went through his head were fairly stupid.

"Follow me," Rumplestiltskin told Belle, and pranced out of the room, and down the hall, forcing her to run to keep up.

As they walked, Rumplestiltskin cast quick glances at her. There was something off about her, and it wasn't her unfashionable monstrosity of what she called clothes. No there was something familiar about her, something that made his heart skip a beat and his cheeks flush.

The woman looked up at him in exactly the same moment he glanced back at her for what was probably the hundredth time since they'd set foot in the hall. She smiled at him.

Quit staring! He internally screamed at himself, You're the dark one! Be scary! Scare her! Show her who's boss!

He sneered at her, "What exactly is that monsterousity you're wearing, dearie? Is that what you call a dress?" he quipped.

That's not scaring her!

The girl laughed at that, "It's not a dress," she said, "It's a skirt and a blouse."

Rumplestiltskin tisked, "Careful now dearie, you might give the wrong sort some very naughty thoughts".

The girl snorted, "I have a name you know," she said.

"Don't care," Rumplestiltskin mocked. Now where should I put her? He wondered, probably should have thought of this first. . . The dungeon, yes that'll show her I'm not to be trifled with.

"It's Belle," the woman said.

Wasn't she listening? He did not care what her name was.

"So, how long have you lived here?" Belle asked curiously.

He ignored her. The dungeon was just around the corner.

"Not very chatty are you," she teased, coming to a stop behind him when he halted in front of the dungeon door.

He spun on his heel, throwing up a hand in an exaggerated gesture. He unlocked and opened the door with magic, causing Belle to walk in front of him to peer inside.

"M-my room?" she turned to look at him with surprise in her pretty blue eyes.

With a high pitched giggle, he shoved her into the room and slammed the door shut. Spinning around on his heel, he walked away, giggling madly as she knocked on the door, trying to regain his attention.

 _Hope you guys liked this chapted,_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: Starting again

Bloody hell! Belle scowled down at the pot she was sure Rumplestiltskin had enchanted, that was sitting in front of her on the table in the kitchens of the castle.

Her first couple of days in the castle had mainly been spent shouting herself hoarse in that chilly dungeon Rumplestiltskin had dubbed her room. There wasn't anything in the room to sleep on other than a pile of hay, which scratched her, and made her itch all over, making it impossible to sleep. Then there was the endless chilliness. It had started as just a minor discomfort, then had escalated to Belle wondering if this had truly been a good idea to quite literally throw herself at the mercy of the cursed version of her employer. After all, May Margaret had been on friendly terms with Regina, but now, it seemed the "Evil Queen" wanted nothing more than to rip Mary Margaret's heart out and crush it.

The only true upside of being in the dungeon for Belle was it had given her time to think over her plan. Or more accurately, come up with a plan to seduce her employer in his cursed state.

Ruby had said on the way back to Storybrooke that it was best to first intrigue him and gain his interest by taking an interest in the little things he did, which she had quickly found out was mainly spinning straw into gold and reading, and most importantly, be nice to him but not to be a push-over. Ruby had said that if that didn't work, nothing would with the cripplingly shy pawnbroker turned sorcerer.

Now if only she could manage to pick the pot on the table up, then everything would be going according to plan, if a little uneasily.

"Rumplestiltskin!" Belle shouted angrily. She folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot impatiently, within seconds there was an answering giggle that, though it had first unnerved her, now made her heart flutter.

"Having trouble?" he trilled behind her.

Without bothering to turn to face him, Belle tugged on the pot and sighed, "Can you unmagic it or whatever it was that you did to it?"

"And why would I do that when watching you struggle is funny?" Rumplestiltskin laughed. She heard the sound of his footsteps coming closer.

Belle tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and turned to face him, an amused smile tugging on her lips. She tilted her head ever so slightly to the side, "Because you don't just want to have milk for dinner do you?"

Rumplestiltskin frowned, his brow furrowed, eyes narrowed.

Belle's heart sank, the distrustful look was back. It was just like when she had first begun working for him. If you won him over the first time, Belle told herself silently, then you can win him over a second time.

"Sorry," Belle winced, "I didn't mean to offend you, Rumplestiltskin."

His handsome features, everything from his sharp nose which was wrinkled up, his normally sparkling eyes, now narrowed, and strong jaw, tense, all spoke of distrust.

"No I suppose I wouldn't want my boys to just eat that," he snapped, suddenly going from distrustful to downright hostile.

He snapped his fingers, and when Belle turned back around to lift the pan, she found that it was no longer attached to the table. "Thanks," she said.

"Beef stew and biscuits," Rumple told her gruffly, "That's what my boys want for dinner."

Having said what he needed to, he vanished in a poof of purple smoke.

Belle sighed in irritation and started on her task. First she placed water in the pot and then cut up the beef, carrots and other veggies before placing them in the pot and setting the pot over the fire to boil.

Belle went back over to the pantry and looked through it for the biscuits or anything resembling them, it wasn't as if she'd ever made them from scratch before. Or anything from scratch before for that matter, she'd merely gotten lucky on the stew, mainly because she'd read about how it was made in one of her books.

Okay think Belle, she told herself, "What do you know about bread? It has yeast in it, and uh, you add water? Or is it milk?

"Oooh," Belle grumbled, "I should've taken home-Ed when I was in school." She shook her head and then laughed at the ridculousness of it. Who would've thought she'd need to learn how to make home made meals so that one day she could cook for a cursed pawnbroker turned sorcerer and his two sons?

"Looks like you were right Mrs. Hamilton," Belle sighed, "You never do know if you'll need a school skill in the future, heh."

XOXOXOXOX

"Okay," Baedden said, he pointed to the kitchen on the map of the castle they'd drawn on a piece of parchment, "That's where Belle starts her mornings, usually at five A.M sharp, then she goes to all our rooms to collect our laundry, and during that time you and I are in the dining room with Papa, then after she collects our laundry and puts it downstairs in the kitchen she eats her breakfast and then goes outside to do laundry."

He and Henry were lying on the floor of their bedroom, where they had been since lunch after their father had informed them that he was going out and that they were to stay in their room.

Henry nodded and pointed to another section of the map, "Papa usually then takes us into town for a bit, or at least he's been doing so in the week the town's been cursed. Then when we get back, Belle's doing the dishes or another task Papa sets for her, while he's out making deals".

"Mm-hm," Baedden hummed into agreement. He sighed and put the quill down, "We just have to find a way to get them to spend time together so that we can get them to fall in love all over again so the curse will break and we can defeat Zelena."

The only problem is how are we going to do that, Baedden thought unhappily, Papa does everything in his power to keep Belle as separated from us as possible, which means the only time they see each other is when he's giving her a new chore. That isn't exactly the way to get him to fall in love with her.

Suddenly a strange smell filled his nose, and Baedden furrowed his brow, trying to figure out what he was now smelling. His eyes widened in sudden panic as realization dawned.

"Is it just me or is something burning?" Henry asked quietly.

XOXOXOXO

Belle beat furiously at the second fire that she'd started in the second fire-pit that they used to cook. The wet cloth did little to discourage the fire, in fact, the fire was growing even bigger, flickering it's red and ginger tongue at her hungrily.

Dark swirling clouds of smoke filled the kitchen, making her eyes sting, her vision blue and her throat all scratchy.

She waved a hand to clear the smoke and coughed, then quickly ran to grab a bucket of water which she filled with the water spout located in the kitchen, and doused the fire with the ice cold water.

Nothing. The fire only burned brighter.

Belle coughed again, and in the distance she thought she could hear footsteps. Quick, anxious footsteps. . . coming towards the kitchen.

Belle shook herself and wet another cloth she started beating at the fire again. Red hot pain shot through her arm as the fire experimentally licked the side of her hand. She jerked back violently, dropping the cloth, and ran to go fill the bucket again though that was taking far too much time.

"Belle! No Henry stay in the Great Hall, we'll handle this, Belle!" Baedden's voice cut through the crackling of fire like a beacon in darkness.

"Baedden don't come in! I don't want you to get hurt!" Belle shouted. She coughed again and waved a hand in front of her face, trying to clear the air enough for her to breathe properly.

"No! I'm not going to let you burn to death in there!" Baedden shouted back, and Belle heard the door creak open.

Her eyes widened in panic and she threw herself against the door. She wouldn't let anything happen to either of the boys.

"Baedden! Henry! Go get . . ." she trailed off as a particularly bad cough racked through her, unable to finish her sentence as she swayed unsteadily on her feet.

"Rumplestiltskin! Rumplestiltskin! Rumplestiltskin!" Henry screamed on the top of his lungs, the only thing Belle could now hear above the roaring of the flames.

Suddenly, purple smoke appeared in the storm of swirling grey and black, and in the blink of an eye the smoke was gone, and both fires had died down.

In front of the second one was Rumplestiltskin.

XOXOXOXO

Rumplestiltskin breathed heavily, glaring at his clumsy maid who could've gotten his boys killed with her clumsiness. Honestly who was dumb enough to not check the fire-pit for anything that might cause the fire to erupt in an explosion? Obviously Belle was. . .

Belle.

He relaxed slightly. As clumsy and careless as she had been about the fire-pit, she had kept his boys from coming into the kitchen, even when Baedden had wished to aide her. For that much he supposed he should be grateful, even if it was her fault they could've been in danger in the first place.

"Belle! Are you alright?!" Baedden shouted, completely oblivious to his father having been called back to the castle by Henry, who luckily it seemed, explained what was going on to his older brother who seemed to instantly forget everything Rumple told him about magic.

"Bae! Henry! Go upstairs," Rumple shouted to his sons, and then upon noticing how pale his maid was, how raspy her breathing was, he added, "Go prepare one of the guest rooms. The help and I will be up in a moment."

Belle, apparently having not just heard what he said, or at least not registered what he said, lifted her head, trying to meet his gaze though her eyes were starting to water a little.

"I'm sorry," she rasped, looking completely dejected, "I-I didn't want to ask how to make the biscuits a-and I'm so, so, sorry that I put Baedden and Henry in danger".

He waved his hand. "My boys weren't hurt and that's all that matters," he told her. Suddenly he felt a twinge of guilt at his words, after all they weren't the only ones who could've gotten hur—

Rumple darted forward just as his maid stumbled to the side a bit, grabbing holding of hers hands to help steady her, only for her to cry out in pain.

Rumple instantly let go of her, though he made sure she was sound on her feet, and then gently took hold of her hands, inspecting them.

"It's fine, really," Belle protested awkwardly, trying to pull her left hand away from him.

"Oh hush you," he hissed, and grabbed her left with both of his, his eyes focused on the burn on the side of her hand, along the side of her pinky.

She—she was hurt, Rumple realized and guilt swam more strongly through him.

He swallowed hard and had he been a braver man would've looked her in the eye, but instead he merely stared at the small burn, though probably second degree from what he could see, and said quietly, "You'll be okay".

He lifted one of his hands and waved it over the burn, his palm glowing blue as he healed her injury. "Is that better?" he asked softly.

"I . . . yeah, it is," Belle said quietly in surprise. He could feel her gaze burning into him, and he let go of her hand as if it might burn him, and shook himself.

"Thank you Rumplestiltskin," Belle said, gently reaching out to touch his arm.

He jerked back, finally meeting her gaze. He found her blue eyes boring into his brown ones, and a strange fluttery feeling erupted into his belly. A dream-like memory floated to mind of a woman who looked just like Belle talking to him, smiling at him, laughing at his quips and looking at him as if she love—

Rumple looked away uncomfortably, and said, "Let's go upstairs."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen: Taken care of

By the time Rumplestiltskin and Belle reached the base of the stairway that led up to the second floor of the castle, coincidentally where all the bedrooms were, Belle was gasping for breath.

Rumplestiltskin, though never having suffered it himself, knew a great deal about the smoke-cough, an affliction caused by breathing in too much smoke during a house or wild fire. The shortness of breath, the shakiness, and of course, the exhaustion. Belle wouldn't be of much use if he forced her to go straight back to doing her chores, no, that would only result in her eventual death and needing to be replaced.

So his giving her time off and a nice, feathery soft bed to sleep in had nothing to do with him feeling a strange affection for her. No not at all.

"Hurry up," he snapped at Belle who had sat on the bottom step to catch her breath. Her eyes were a bit dull, and her skin was paler than normal. She had to prop her head up with her hand, her elbow resting on her knee, while her other hand rested against her chest.

"Just . . give . . . me a moment," Belle panted.

Rumplestiltskin growled in frustration. He wasn't sure if he was more furious at the woman for getting herself in the situation or at himself for not having thought about the possibility of this happening.

After all, with such strange clothes as hers, she was surely born of high status. And princesses were never taught to prepare food, it simply wasn't done.

Rumplestiltskin wrinkled his nose at the thought, and huffed. It seemed that royals and those of high status were completely useless at everything besides running a country and even then some couldn't even do that . . .

Belle finally pushed herself to her feet. Her breathing was still a little wheezy sounding, but was much better than it had been a minute ago.

She tilted her head back to glance up at the staircase and her face, if it was even possible, paled even more, her blue eyes wide with sudden dread.

Ugh . . . this is going to take forever, Rumplestiltskin thought. He rubbed his forefinger and thumb together thoughtfully, not at all liking where his thoughts were leading him.

"Alright, let's go," Belle said, but before she could take a step, Rumplestiltskin lunged forward and cradled her into his arms like the princess she probably was.

"What . . .?" Belle stammered, looking up at him from her new position.

"It'll be faster if I just carry you to your room, otherwise we'd be here all night," Rumpelstiltskin grumbled.

"Thank you Rumplestiltskin," she murmured. Belle snuggled against his chest gratefully, a content and relieved smile on her face.

Rumplestiltskin swallowed hard as he began the ascent up the winding stairway, doing his best to ignore the rapid thud, thud, thudding of his heart.

When he reached the top, Belle now fast asleep in his arms, it dawned on him that he could have just used magic to teleport them to her room. Or the top of the stairs rather than carry her at the very least.

Still, carrying the help reminded Rumplestiltskin of the days when Bae was small. When the lad would fall asleep somewhere in the castle while Milah was out doing who knew what, and Rumplestiltskin would get to carry his sleeping boy to his room. While Henry, who'd merely come from a quick one night stand, the woman of which he'd spent that night with long dead, had never really needed carrying to his room. It was something that had disappointed Rumplestiltskin greatly.

But now, looking down at the soft, warm woman in his arms, he felt a strange warm, fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Suddenly a peculiar scene played out in his mind.

 _He was walking up the stairs of a charming old building, heading to the second floor to go put his dagger away. Though the stairway in this strange building looked strangely like the one in his own castle._

 _Suddenly something bright flashed directly into his face, startling him so that he stumbled back, having forgotten he was on the stairs and fall backwards._

 _Pain shot through his arm as his hand tightened around the blade, drawing blood as he fell onto his butt._

 _He glanced up and saw that the reason for his mishap was a young woman . . . a woman who looked exactly like the one in his arms . . . Who in the vision was holding a peculiar object in her hands, a flashlight. Yes that was its name._

" _Watch where you're going," he snarled at the Belle in his mind._

Just as suddenly as the vision came, it ended.

He blinked slowly, once, twice.

It was probably just an old dream you once had, you can't remember most of them anyway, Rumplestiltskin told himself, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

"Papa?"

Rumplestiltskin's head snapped up at the sound of Baedden's voice.

His eldest son was standing in the doorway to one of the bedrooms, a puzzled look on his young face. Suddenly, the boy noticed that his father was carrying Belle, and he rushed forward, eyes widening.

"Is she okay?" Baedden demanded, coming to a standstill in front of his father.

Rumplestiltskin looked down at the beauty in his arms and nodded. "She'll be fine, Bae." He told his son, "She just needs rest. The smoke she inhaled is bothering her is all, but she'll be fine in a few days".

"Oh," Baedden said. A look of surprise flitted across his boy's face, then was swiftly replaced by one of happiness.

"Henry and I finished making the bed for her," Baedden said, leading his father over to the room he and Henry had picked for Belle, "Henry's still in there fluffing up pillows."

Inside, Baedden proved to be right, Henry was fluffing up the pillows and when the young boy glanced up at them, his entire face lit up.

"She's going to be okay, yeah?" Henry asked, watching, with a glint of a secret in his eyes, as his father laid Belle down onto the bed and rearranged her so she would be more comfortable.

"Yeah, she'll be okay," Rumplestiltskin murmured. He stood up and backed away from the bed, and towards the door then stopped to look at both of his sons. "Since our maid is incapacitated, I'll be cooking. If you need anything, just give a holler, okay?"

Both boys nodded and Baedden slung an arm around his younger brother's shoulder when Henry came to stand beside him, still looking at Belle.

"She's really pretty isn't she Papa?" Henry commented very quietly.

Rumplestiltskin glanced from his sons to the sleeping beauty lying on the bed, fast asleep, her breathing now evened out.

Even with her hazel brown hair fluffy and frizzy beyond control, and her creamy skin much paler than normal, she was indeed pretty. Not that he cared.

"She's the help, Henry," Rumplestiltskin told his youngest son gently, "Her beauty makes no difference to me". With that, he walked out of the room, leaving his two sons alone with the unconscious woman.

OXOXOXO

"I wonder how Belle's doing with seducing her new employer," Ruby said, leaning against one of the trees that lined the small clearing where their little team had made their camp. "I hope she remembers the advice I gave her about making him feel all special and warm inside".

"I just hope he doesn't hurt her," Mary Margaret said from where she was crouched down, tending to the small fire placed in the center of the camp.

They'd spent the entire day that Belle had first left with Rumplestiltskin weaving vines, leaves, twigs and other plants into a wall around their camp to hide the two vehicles, and the three tents they'd bought from the town(Mary Margaret hadn't been allowed to go out on that mission, or any mission since so that there was no chance of grabbing the Queen's attention on accident).

That was exactly why only Ruby, Grace, and Mary Margaret were the only ones in camp while the others went to town to buy supplies. It seemed that Jefferson had been paranoid enough to keep plenty of ancient coins from the days when his town had suffered the same thing.

"He won't," Ruby replied confidently, "Besides Belle is more than capable of handling herself". Beside Ruby, Grace was drawing out a map on the ground with small pebbles and a stick as a pen, marking out key places such as the Queen's castle.

"She's right you know," Grace said without looking up. "When our town was affected by the curse, everyone no matter how different they seemed was exactly the same underneath all the peasant and noble clothes."

"So you think that the curse didn't cause Regina to hate me," Mary Margaret said, looking at the teen curiously.

Grace finally looked up and shrugged. "I don't know why she's mad at you, but maybe we can find out the next time someone goes into town".

Ruby chuckled, knowing exactly what the teen was getting to.

"And what," Mary Margaret asked, trying to hide her frustration at being confided to the camp and being able to do nothing to help the others, "Ask her why she hates me so much?"

"Nope," Grace grinned smugly, "We'll pry, after all, every small town loves gossip".


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen: Stew, chats, and a chipped cup

"Belle," a voice whispered.

Belle felt someone touch her arm, shaking gently.

"Belle," the voice repeated.

Belle groaned, slowly opening her eyes. She blinked once, twice and the room went into focus. A familiar dark haired boy with brown eyes was standing over her, a frown tugging on his mouth and a worried look in his eyes.

Baedden.

As soon as he saw her eyes flicker open however, his expression melted into one of relief, and he smiled, "Hey, good to see you're okay".

"Where am I?" Belle asked hoarsely, struggling to sit up.

Firm, but gentle hands pushed her back against the array of pillows she was laying against. "Lay down, the sooner you get better, the sooner you can get back to work cleaning the castle so I don't have to do laundry," a familiar accented voice growled.

On the other side of the bed, Baedden laughed. "Papa hates doing laundry, can you tell?" he asked, his eyes shining with amusement.

It's good to see him getting along with his father again, Belle thought happily to herself as she turned her head to face Rumplestiltskin himself.

"Just a bit," Belle said, a small smile tugging on her mouth.

Rumplestiltskin was standing beside the bed, holding a bowl of soup, steam trailing into the air from the soup within.

He leaned forward and carefully set the bowl on the night stand beside the bed. His usual mask was replaced by wariness, though simultaneously to Belle's surprise and delight; there was concern in eyes dark sable eyes as well.

"Baedden," Rumplestiltskin said without taking his eyes off Belle, "Do me a favor and go keep an eye on Henry while I tend to our clumsy maid".

Belle didn't see the expression on Baedden's face when the boy's father told him this, but as he was leaving the room, he winked at Belle and mouthed the words 'good luck' before he shut the door.

Luckily for Belle, Rumplestiltskin still had his back to the door, so his son's wink and unspoken words went unnoticed.

"So," Belle said, trying to once again break the ice with her employer, "You do care for me".

Rumplestiltskin snorted and picked up the bowl before gingerly setting it on her lap. "Now why would I do something as rash as that?" he quipped, reaching behind her to prop her up on the pillows so she was in a semi sitting position.

"Well," Belle began, taking hold of the spoon, "You didn't just crush my heart, or leave me to die. And you're helping me to get better, so—" Belle glanced up at him and poked him in the chest with the unused spoon, "I took that as a sign you care for me. No matter what you say, I know you've got a heart under all that armor".

Breaking her gaze away from his, she dipped the spoon into the stew, blew gently, and then stuck the spoon into her mouth.

Rumplestiltskin's eyes lowered to focus on her mouth for a moment, then snapped back up to meet her gaze, "Then you're deeply mistaken dearie," he shrugged, "My boys would be deeply unhappy if I tossed away the help as soon as they become useless."

Belle didn't say anything in response. She just smiled and took another bite of soup.

They stayed like that for a little while, Belle taking bites of her soup, while Rumplestiltskin paced the room, seemingly torn between keeping an eye on her or an eye on his boys.

"Why'd you want me here?" Belle asked after a while.

She set the spoon down in the now empty bowl and turned her head to watch Rumplestiltskin, who'd stopped by the door when she'd spoken.

The fingers on his left rubbed against his thumb, a nervous tick of his that Belle had picked up on back when they were still just Mr. Gold and Ms. French.

So you are truly still there, Belle thought.

"Place was filthy," he shrugged.

Suddenly, the sound of two sets of footsteps rushed towards the bedroom door, and a moment later, Henry poked his head into the room.

"Hi Papa," Henry said, he turned and pushed the door open with his back, then stepped into the room, revealing that he was holding a tray with a tea set on it.

"What's with the tea, Henry?" Rumplestiltskin asked curiously.

Baedden pushed the door open and joined them in the room, shrugging a shoulder in reply to his father's question.

"I wanted to try to cook something so I could help you while Belle's recovering, but Baedden wouldn't let me try anything more complicated than tea," Henry complained.

Rumplestiltskin smiled fondly at them and took the tray from Henry and set it down on the small table in the room.

OXOXOX

Henry's taking after me then, Rumple thought to himself. Though Milah and Emma had never actually liked to cook, he himself had taken quite the interest in doing so, no matter how feminine his fellow boys had thought that to be.

Rumplestiltskin reached over and ruffled Henry's hair, "I'll teach you some basics tomorrow morning when we cook breakfast, I promise". He told him, then looked up at Baedden, and added, "But your brother's right, its good to start simple. And making tea's the perfect way to do that".

"Okay, thanks Papa," Henry said, grinning up at his father.

Baedden jerked his head at the door, gesturing at Henry, "Come on Henry, let's go clean up the mess we made downstairs".

Rumple tilted his head to the side, "Mess?"

"You had to make a second batch because you put too many leaves into the first one didn't you?" Belle laughed.

Baedden grinned, "Sure did".

"Yeah, we need to go clean that up," Henry said, an embaressed grin on his face.

Baedden wrapped an arm around Henry's shoulders and the two left the room, once again leaving Belle and Rumplestiltskin alone.

Rumplestiltskin watched them leave, a knowing twinge in the pit of his stomach that his boys hadn't just decided to make tea out of the blue, they wanted to do something nice for Belle, who hadn't had tea since she'd been at castle. Espicially since she'd mentioned a kind or two that she liked.

And sure enough, when he looked, the tea was one of the kinds Belle had said she liked.

Quietly, he poured tea into two of the cups. He picked up one of the cups and turned, about to make his way over to give it to Belle when suddenly his vision went fuzzy and a strange vision danced before his eyes.

" _None of your concern," Belle snapped, "Now turn around and put your hands on your head! You've violated the no trespassing onto private property law!"_

 _The man cocked his head to the side, and Belle frowned, her eyes narrowed, brows drawn together in anger and puzzlement._

 _"Well," he said his voice cocky, "If I do, you'll owe me a favor dearie". Rumplestiltskin clasped his hands in front of him. Belle was staring at him strangely._

 _"What?" Belle glared at him in confusion._

 _Rumplestiltskin rubbed his hands together, "Do we have a deal dearie?"_

But . . . I've . . . I didn't make that deal, Rumplestiltskin thought, his heart thundering in his chest. His hands trembled, and the tea sloshed over the edge of the cup only a moment before the cup fell from his hands.

It landed with a loud metallic sound on the floor, startling both Belle and Rumplestiltskin. Almost instantly, the images and voices surrounding him vanished.

"Rumple, are you okay?" Belle asked, concern lacing her voice.

He uncertainly turned his head to glance at her over his shoulder, registering the confusion on her face, then turned his head to look down at the cup now lying on the floor at his feet, his boots and the floor splattered with tea.

He awkwardly bent down and picked it up, cradling the cup in his hands. From what he could tell, the only damage came from a chipped side, but other than that it was perfectly fine.

Suddenly another scene played out before his eyes.

 _He looked up at Belle and asked, "Would you like some tea Belle?"_

 _She nodded, and chatted with Mr. Gold and the boys while the tea warmed. When it was done, he poured it into tea cups and joined them at the table._

 _The three boys soon ended up in a discussion with Belle about who could have possibly stolen the Dark One's dagger; after a while, something seemed to dawn on her, and the teacup fell from her hand._

 _The teacup fell her hand and landed with a loud clank on the table, startling everyone, including Belle herself._

 _Biting her bottom lip in worry, Belle slowly picked it up and saw that there was a chip on the side as big her pinky nail, in a hoarse voice she said, "I-I'm sorry, b-but it is chipped Mr. Gold"._

 _The man looked at her, perplexed, then shrugged, saying, "Its just a cup dearie"._

Rumplestiltskin gave a startled gasp when a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder, a hoarse feminine voice softly asking, "Rumplestiltskin, are you okay?"

He felt her hand leave his shoulder and a second passed before she appeared in front of him. She opened her mouth to ask him and then her eyes went wide and she turned her head to the side and coughed.

"Go back to bed, Belle, I'm fine," Rumplestiltskin rasped.

He felt a mired of strange emotions bubbling up inside him. Confusion, affection, uncertainty, and yes, even love, were all mixed in, vying to take full control of him.

Belle shook her head, having recovered from her coughing bout, "I'm fine, but you're acting strange."

She reached forward and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead, a frown appearing in place of her usual smile.

"You're not running a fever," she murmured worriedly, "Does your head hurt?"

Rumplestiltskin shook his head though he instantly regretted it, because his head was already pounding worse than any handover he'd ever had, not that he'd let Belle know that.

His stomach lurched, and Rumplestiltskin had to swallow hard to avoid vomiting all over Belle and himself.

What's wrong with me? He wondered, his thoughts becoming entangled and so thick that he could barely pick out one memory from the next.

In one he was sitting in the strangest house he'd ever seen, yet somehow it felt comforting; in another he was watching a great metal bird land in a place of flattened black rock.

Rumplestiltskin whimpered. Fear was clawing at his throat, and tightening its icy hold around his heart.

0X0X0X

Belle stared in shock as Rumple's face shimmered and spots of Mr. Gold's tan skin showed through.

His curse was wavering!

He whimpered again and it tore at Belle's heart.

"It's okay Rumple, you'll be okay," Belle soothed, reaching out to caress his face gently with her fingers.

What's going on? I haven't kissed him, how is his curse breaking? Belle wondered in bewilderment, is it only because he's trying to fight it?

Suddenly, Rumplestiltskin shook his head and grabbed hold Belle's wrist, dragging it gently away from his face as he became his cursed self again.

"I'm fine, Belle," he said, his voice back to its normal high-pitched tone, "Just a late dizzy spell from breathing in the smoke".

Belle stared at him in worry, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Rumplestiltskin stood up and helped her to her feet, before leading her back over to the bed. "It's probably just because I haven't changed yet and the smoke's clinging to my clothes. ."

0X0X0X0

Guilt sank its deadly claws into Rumplestiltskin's heart as he realized how self-centered he sounded. Belle had been in the fire twice as long as he had, and the smell of smoke clinging to her strange clothes was far worse than his.

As he watched Belle settle back into her bed, snuggling down gratefully under the warm blankets, he decided that tomorrow he would go into town and buy Belle a new dress.

Besides, his boys had been cooped up too long, they would surely enjoy walking about the market with him.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen: The Mad Hatter

"Henry! Stay in my sight!" Rumplestiltskin barked after his youngest son, who'd taken off at the smell of sticky buns from a stand in the marketplace.

The young boy glanced sheepishly back at his father, and bounded back to Rumplestiltskin's side.

"Can we please have one Papa?" Henry pouted, sticking his lower lip out slightly.

Rumplestiltskin peered over at the stand. He didn't sense any magic users nearby, so he nodded and told Henry to go ahead so long as Baedden stayed with him.

Delight showed on both on the boys' faces before they raced off to the stand, stopping only to stand in line behind a girl about Baedden's age, who was standing in line beside a middle aged man who Rumplestiltskin assumed was her father.

Rumplestiltskin strolled over to the line where he leaned against a nearby building to watch his boys contently.

The girl and her father ordered their sticky buns and then Baedden and Henry were up. Rumplestiltskin walked over to the stand and paid for the sticky buns which his sons happily began to devour.

"Are you enjoying yourselves?" Rumple asked as they walked away from the stand. As they rejoined the main crowd in the market, several people darted farther into the crowd to avoid Rumplestiltskin though most didn't even bother. After seeing him wandering around the market place for the last few years, most realized that so long as they left him alone, he wouldn't do them any harm.

"Yeah, this is the best day ever!" Henry crowed. The young boy licked his lips then wiped his sticky hands off on his pants.

Baedden nodded, swallowing the last of his sticky bun. "Yeah, it was nice to get out of the castle, thanks for taking us to the market Papa," Baedden said with a meaningful look at his father.

Rumplestiltskin felt guilt bloom in his chest but he swiftly squashed the feeling down. He knew Baedden liked to be out and about amongst ordinary people, but many enemies of Rumplestiltskin could easily hide in the crowd. Besides, his deal making kept him more busy than not.

"One has to make a living somehow," Rumplestiltskin responded patiently, "For me, that's making deals".

"I know," Baedden answered with a yawn.

Rumplestiltskin smiled at him and Henry. It was getting late, and he imagined that both would be more than happy to part with the market to meet up with their beds. Besides, Rumplestiltskin wanted to check up on Belle. But first, there was one more thing he had to do at the market.

Rumplestiltskin's sharp eyes sought out what he'd originally come for, and after a moment of searching, he found exactly what he was looking for.

"We'll go home in a minute, boys," Rumplestiltskin told his sons, "But first we need to get some new clothes for Belle".

"Great," Henry said enthusiastically, while Baedden smiled at his father.

"I was wondering when you were going to address that," he said affectionately.

Rumplestiltskin glanced over at his eldest son, his brows furrowed in puzzlement. "What do you mean, son?"

Baedden shrugged, "Well, her clothes are in pretty bad shape, and she would've needed some new ones eventually anyway".

"True," Rumplestiltskin agreed, leading his two boys towards the clothing vender at the edge of the market.

When they reached the vender, the older gentleman who was running it, shrank back a little. He was clearly unused to being approached by the Dark One.

Rumplestiltskin looked through the dresses on display, quickly dismisses many of them as being too big for his petite maid. While he looked, Baedden chatted with the vender, calming the older man, while Henry looked at the fabrics on display.

"Papa, the man says that he doesn't have any smaller dresses. Most of the clothes he makes are for tall woman," Baedden said, moving to stand by his father's side.

Rumplestiltskin hummed thoughtfully. He glanced up at the vendor long enough to register the fear on the man's face, then his gaze slid over to where Henry was. "I might have to trim up one of the dresses then," Rumplestiltskin commented.

"If you're looking for smaller dresses, I'd try Madam Pom's shop a few blocks from here, good sir," an accented man's voice said from behind them.

Rumplestiltskin instantly swept Baedden behind him, and turned to face the stranger who'd spoken to him.

The man was taller than Rumplestiltskin, with pale blue eyes and messy dark brown hair. He wore a simple pair of leather boots, and a simple brown tunic with a dark purple top hat positioned on top of his head.

Rumplestiltskin narrowed his eyes warily at the man. The stranger didn't look at all familiar, so Rumplestiltskin assumed that he wasn't from the village. Automatically he called out to Henry, "Henry, come here."

Henry looked up at his father, then his facial expression went from confused to curious as he noticed the strange man. Silently, Henry walked over to his father and older brother where he ducked behind them.

"And you are?" Rumplestiltskin drawled.

The man smiled, and gave a little bow, "Jefferson Maddison, at your service Mr—?"

"Rumplestiltskin," He said, then raised his hands in an elegant flourish, and said with great emphasis, "The Dark One".

Jefferson stuck his hand out, "Well, it's a pleasure meeting you".

Rumplestiltskin reached forward and shook the other man's hand. He was unsettled that the man seemed unconcerned about Rumplestiltskin wielding magic. After all, the Dark One's curse was a common legend in their land.

"What were you saying about a Madam Pom?" Baedden asked, peeking out from behind his father.

"There's a shop a little ways from here called Madam Pom's," Jefferson explained, gesturing towards a little shop on the other side of the market place, which was beginning to empty. "She specializes in smaller dresses. I had to go there to get my daughter a new dress."

Jefferson raised an eyebrow, "I assume your daughter needs one as well?"

Henry and Baedden snickered while Rumplestiltskin's face flushed bright red.

"She's my maid, not my daughter," he hissed angrily.

Jefferson opened his mouth to reply, but was quickly cut off by a sultry female voice, "So sorry about Mr. Maddison, there's a reason he's known as the Mad Hatter."

A tall, slender woman wearing a skin tight dark green dress wandered over to them. She had the greenest eyes Rumplestiltskin had ever seen, along with curly, fiery red hair.

 _Zelena._

Years ago, it had been Zelena's castle that Rumplestiltskin had broken into in order to find the Dark One's dagger, an item that the witch herself had created. Though the reasons why she had created the dagger were beyond even Rumplestiltskin's understanding.

Beside him, Jefferson back up a few paces, clearly nervous about being so close to the wicked witch, while Baedden and Henry clumped together behind their father.

Rumplestiltskin raised his arm protectively in front of his boys, mainly to keep them as far away from the witch as possible.

"Hello Zelena," Rumpelstiltskin drawled, "It's been a long time."

"Too long," Zelena purred, "I do wish we could enjoy each other's company sometime to . . . catch up." She ran her eyes suggestively over him.

Rumplestiltskin peeled his lip back in disgust while Jefferson made a gagging sound. Though Zelena was older than him, the Dark One's curse made Rumplestiltskin far more powerful so he wasn't concerned with upsetting the witch, not like he had once been.

"Perhaps at a later time Dearie," Rumplestiltskin said, pushing his boys closer to Jefferson, who seemed much safer for them to be around than Zelena, "But Mr. Maddison was going to show me a shop I needed to head to".

Rumplestiltskin turned away from her and motioned for Jefferson, who was now grinning like a maniac, to show them the way to Madam Pom's shop.

XOXOXOXO

Zelena narrowed her eyes angrily as she watched the Hatter lead the Dark One and his sons through the crowd. That man was going to make her plan very difficult indeed. After all, the last time she'd been freed from her prison, the man and his insufferable daughter had ruined her plans.

But Zelena wasn't going to let them win, not this time. She would rule over Storybrooke as it's queen, as its Enchantress . . . and Rumplestiltskin would rule beside her as her king . . . her Enchanter . . . her prisoner.

So yes, she would be patient this time, not rush into things. She would wait for the perfect opportunity to darken Rumplestiltskin Gold's heart.

This time, she would not be denied.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty: Something there

Belle glanced around the kitchen in dismay. The work table in the middle of the room had been burned to ash, while most of the cabinets now held black scars from where the fire had licked at their wood paneling.

She went over to the cabinets and peered inside one. All of the contents inside, including food and dishes were unharmed.

"Thank goodness," Belle murmured with a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, she tensed all over and turned her head towards the crook of her elbow, a cough explosively tearing from her throat. Once she'd recovered from her coughing fit, she turned her attention to cleaning up the kitchen. The least she could do was clean the place up a bit, after all, she'd caused the accident.

She left the room to retrieve the broom and dust pan from the Great Hall before she returned to the kitchen and started sweeping up the mess. As she swept, her jeans sagged low on her hips, forcing her to continually pull them back up, much to her annoyance.

I really need to ask Rumple for some new clothes, Belle thought. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. Not only were her clothes ragged and dirty, but they smelled of smoke, making Belle's cough slightly worse.

Belle narrowed her eyes as she dumped the last bits of ash into a make shift trashcan she'd made out of a badly burned pot on the floor by the fireplace. Speaking of Rumplestiltskin, she thought, where is he?

She stood up, leaning the broom against the wall.

Though Belle hadn't been concerned about having not seen hide nor hair of Rumple's boys, not seeing the man himself was a bit disconcerting. After all, it was rare in itself that Belle even got to see Henry or Baedden. Rumplestiltskin himself however . . .

Her thoughts wandered to Zelena. Though Jefferson and his daughter had defeated her, there was no question in Belle's mind that the witch was quite powerful, though she had yet to meet her. Could the witch have hurt Rumple or his boys?

Rage blazed through Belle at the mere thought of some mysterious and powerful woman hurting a hair on Rumple's head or that of his boys.

Belle shook herself. Quit it Belle! She scolded herself silently, you're just being paranoid. Rumple's clever and powerful himself, he wouldn't have let anyone hurt him or his kids.

Still, she decided to look for him and his sons.

Her shoes thudded softly on the hardwood floors as she went from room to room, occasionally calling out their names. By the time she'd reached the entrance to the castle on the first floor, concern and worry were flooding through her.

"Rumplestiltskin!" Belle shouted; alarm evident in her voice now.

"What do you need Dearie? Is someone else here in the castle?" a familiar voice asked behind Belle. She spun around to see Rumplestiltskin a few yards behind her, holding a lumpy package in his arms.

Baedden and Henry stood beside him, looking at her curiously before Henry ran over to her and threw his arms around her in a fierce hug.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Belle," he said, grinning up at her. His gentle brown eyes, so much like his father's, were twinkling.

Belle hugged him back, feeling slightly self-concious that Rumplestiltskin was watching her, alongside Baedden. "Where've you all been, I was starting to worry. Don't disappear on me like that, I was worried something had happened to the three of you!" Belle scolded, her gaze locked on Rumplestiltskin, letting him know it was him she was speaking to.

Henry pulled back away from Belle, grinning. "We went into town, Papa let us get yummy sticky buns, then Papa wanted—"

"We met a strange man too," Baedden added, coming over to Belle and Henry. He met Belle's gaze and winked, "He said he was called Jefferson, he helped Papa find something he was looking for."

Jefferson! Belle blinked in surprise, he and the others must be trying to help out! She wondered if they had encountered or at least found out where Zelena was hiding.

Henry, now looking slightly sheepish, nodded, "Anyway, we'll see you later Belle. Baedden promised me he'd show me how to make sock puppets so we can use them to help Papa tell a bedtime story."

He leaned closer to her and whispered conspirously, "We got him to agree to tell all three of us a story tonight in the reading room!"

Baedden grinned, throwing an arm around his younger brother's shoulders, steering him towards the upstairs rooms, "We'll see you later Belle!" he called over his shoulder.

Belle smiled at the two retreating boys, then turned back to face their father, who was now awkwardly figiting with the lumpy package in his arms.

"What's that?" Belle asked, nodding towards the package.

Rumplestiltskin stared at her for a moment, then swallowed with difficulty before he looked down at the package. He took a step towards her, peeking up from beneath his hair almost shyly.

"Here!" he suddenly blurted out. He shoved the package into Belle's arms, then he glanced down at his feet for a moment, then back up again. He took notice of the confusion on Belle's face and added quickly, "It's to replace your ruined clothes. I won't have my maid going about in rags."

Ah, so that's why Baedden and Henry ran off so quickly, Belle smiled knowingly at him. She balanced the package on one arm while she used her free hand to open the package. Inside, she found a stunning blue and white dress.

Belle let the packaging flutter to the floor while she held the dress up against herself, "Thank you, Rumple!" She glanced up at him, warmth bubbling up inside her at his kind gesture.

Without thinking, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, the dress pressed between them, keeping it from falling to the floor.

Rumplestiltskin went tense all over, reminding Belle that he still didn't remember their past together. Belle instantly let go of him, looking abash, while still holding the dress in her arms.

"Sorry," she grinned apologetically, "I got a little excited, and I-uh like giving hugs . . ." she trailed off, uncertain now.

Rumple closed his mouth which had been hanging open slightly. He stared at her as if she was a miracle in partly burned clothing.

"S'no matter," He held up his hands in a helpless gesture, and licked his lips. "I'll uh, get started on dinner, you go back upstairs and change, then you can help me with dinner."

Belle's eyes lit up. This was her prefect chance to spend some quality time with him!

XOXOXOXOX

 _Idiot!_

Rumplestiltskin glared down at the dough he was kneading with his hands on the tabletop, silently listening to Zoso's ravings about how he was letting himself go soft for a pretty face and how the girl was going to find the dagger and kill him and blah, blah, blah.

He could see the older man out of the corner of his eye, leaning against one of the cabinets as he ranted, his face twisted into an expression of sheer loathing.

"You are almost as foolish as the last man to hold the power of my curse!" Zoso spat, the cabinet clearly visible behind him.

Rumplestiltskin rolled his eyes, continuing to ignore Zoso.

Though at first, he had found the entity's presence a bit frightening, by now Rumplestiltskin couldn't care less. Not only that, but he knew that Zoso hated ordinary humans, mainly because a mundane human had managed to use Zoso's power against him in order to create the Dark One's curse. Mainly as a way to keep Zelena from getting Zoso to fall in love with her, therefore keeping her from being able to control him through metaphorical holding his heart.

The sound of footsteps coming into the room caused Rumplestiltskin to turn around, tuning out whatever it was Zoso was blathering about as Rumplestiltskin caught sight of Belle.

Her hair was pulled back away from her face, while the dress hugged her body, showing off her curves. She was smiling shyly at him.

Rumplestiltskin could feel his heart thumping in his throat. What was that doing there? Butterflies fluttered happily around his belly, while his face got hot. Had he accidently caught himself on fire?

Belle looked concerned now, "A-are you alright, Rumplestiltskin?" she asked worriedly, apparently having found his silence to be disconcerting.

He swiftly found his voice, shocked when it came out as a slight squeak, "Of course, dearie." He cleared his throat and tried again, trying not to let the warmth fluttering around inside him become a distraction from the task at hand. "Let's get started shall we? In the cabinets over there are some pans, bring them over to the table.

Belle smiled, nodding, "Okay." She headed over to the cabinets, her hips swaying back and forth slightly.

Rumplestiltskin found a smile tugging on the side of his mouth, his expression softening.

Zoso was laughing hysterically now.

"And you call me a fool for liking a girl?" he snorted, eyes gleaming in savage delight, "You're so far gone for this girl that she could ask for the bloody dagger and you'd fall flat on your face trying to please her!"

Rumplestiltskin felt his heart quicken, not in love this time, but fear. He quickly turned his attention back to the dough in front of him.

No, he thought determinedly, I'm not going to end up like Zoso, I'm not going to fall in love with Belle.

'Too late,' Zoso smirked.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One: A secret among Friends . . .

After that awkward, yet heavenly night spent making dinner with Belle, Rumplestiltskin had taken to spinning in the evening while he and his sons listened to Belle read aloud from a book, usually a favorite of hers.

He had also taken to spending time with the Mad Hatter, also known as Jefferson, or as Rumplestiltskin thought of him as . . . the world's single most cheerful man. The first few times Rumplestiltskin had poofed behind Jefferson and his daughter, Grace, the due had seemed surprised to find him following them around like a lost puppy, uncertain of where he wanted to be.

However, after a while, Jefferson began to joke with him as he and his daughter went about their business, sometimes with others such as Snow White and a few girls Rumplestiltskin reconized as having been friends of Belle's before they'd made their deal.

Usually when Belle's friends accompanied Jefferson, Rumple wouldn't walk with the Hatter for long, he'd make some excuse or another to get away from the girls who surely accused him of stealing Belle away from him.

Once or twice, Rumplestiltskin would find himself walking with just Jefferson and another man he hadn't known before, but had also remembered being with Belle's friend group. That man's name was Killian Jones.

The three of them were walking together throughout the market on that day; Rumplestiltskin helping the other two men find what they needed.

"I'll need to make a stop by the sheep-herders for more wool," Jefferson said, frowning down at the note in his hand. He looked up at Rumplestiltskin who was peering over his arm at the neat hand-writing.

"We'd best set off then; besides I want to get back to camp before dark." Killian said, tilting his head back to look at the sky. "The last time we arrived back late, Swan nearly threw me into a lake".

Jefferson and Rumplestiltskin exchanged a knowing glance and smirked.

"Mm, seems someone has soften up the cold, cold heart of Henry's mother," Rumplestiltskin sang while Jefferson shoved the note into his pocket, smirking all the while.

Killian's brow furrowed. "What? Wait! Emma is Henry's mother?" The black haired man's pale blue eyes widened. "How?"

"Jealous?" Jefferson asked, an eyebrow raised. He and Rumplestiltskin started walking down the path towards the sheep-herder's farm, Killian followed, dumbfounded.

"Hardly, with as many bar-maids there are in this town, I could have any woman I wanted," Killian sniffed, "Except for Emma it would seem."

Rumplestiltskin glanced back at the younger man, genuinely surprised to see that Killian seemed saddened by this. An almost puppy-dog expression on his face.

Rumplestiltskin supposed that after his and Emma's one night stand, and her original fiancé having ditched her for another woman, the young woman probably wasn't exactly going to be trusting.

"Her fiancé ditched her . . ." Rumplestiltskin said, unsure of why he was telling Killian this, after all why should he care.

"I-I didn't know that," Killian said quietly after a moment. Then, "You know she misses Belle, right? We all do. Is she happy there with you?"

Rumplestiltskin didn't answer. Luckily, he didn't have to, for Jefferson's smile widened and the man practically skipped over to two men standing beside a tiny hut at the end of the cobblestone path.

"Hey David!" Jefferson said cheerfully, then he turned and dipped his head to the other man who had a slight beard, green eyes and brown hair. This man, unlike David who was in shepard's clothes, wore clothes fit for a thief and had an arrow pack strapped to his back.

"Hey Robin, haven't seen you since you convinced Regina not to kill Snow for having accidently caused Regina's fiancé to be killed, how you been?" Jefferson asked, a lopsided grin on his face.

The man shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "Uh, been busy ya'know. I've got a new girl, and she's been helping me find a place so I don't have to steal anymore."

"Any advice, my usual charms aren't working for the girl I'm after," Killian asked, then stuck out his hand for Robin to shake, "Killian Jones, don't believe we were probably introduced last time, mate."

"Robin Hood," Robin's eyes strayed from Killian's and he looked over at Rumplestiltskin wearily. Almost instantly, David raised his staff in defence and Robin set an arrow in his bow, ready to fire.

"Careful Jefferson, Killian. The Dark One's right behind you," David warned, his eyes locked on Rumplestiltskin.

Jefferson waved his hand at them, apparently unphazed, "Relax my dear friends," he trilled, "Rumple here is a friend of mine and Killian's."

David lowered his staff, "Oh."

Robin reluctantly lowered his bow and placed the arrow back into his pack, still looking uncertain. After a moment of hesitation, Robin turned to talk with Killian, their voices too soft for Rumplestiltskin to hear what they were saying.

While Jefferson went over to where David's mother was watching them curiously to go get the wool they'd come for, David turned to Rumplestiltskin, an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry bout that," he apologized, "We're kind raised to think you—"

"Don't worry bout it," Rumplestiltskin murmured while Zoso shouted at him from where he sat on the sheep pen that he was going soft. "Besides I'm still not someone to mess with, just ask Killian and Jefferson, I took one of their female friends to my castle to become my maid."

"She made a deal with you though," David pointed out, then added when Rumplestiltskin looked up at him suspiciously, "Jefferson told me."

Rumplestiltskin's chest tightened. He hated feeling guilty, especially when he hadn't exactly done anything wrong. The girl had gone with him willingly, he hadn't harmed her. She got to socialize with him and his boys. She had a nice room and got to read books. What more could the girl want after all?

He bit his lip. He knew what he should do, but he wasn't willing to let her go. After all he liked pretty things, and Belle was by far the most precious thing in his collection, not counting his sons.

It was Killian who provided him an idea that was almost as good, and one he was far less opposed to.

"I wish we could have like a dance at our camp," Killian was saying to Robin, who now leaned against the sheep pen lazily. "Then I could ask Emma to dance and teach her to waltz, I know from Snow that she doesn't know how to dance."

Emma, surely she would like to see Henry. After all, she'd only been eighteen and had been scared when she'd given birth to their son. Rumple had been willing to have joint custady of the child with her, but she'd given him up. Maybe it would do Henry some good to see his birth mother. Rumple just hoped she wouldn't try to take his son away from him.

"Well, we'll be seeing you later gentlemen," Jefferson said to David and Robin, "We'd best be going to make it back to camp before sundown and I'm sure Rumple here has other stuff he needs to get down."

"Let's have a ball," Rumplestiltskin blurted out.

Four pairs of eyes turned to him in confusion.

"So that Belle can see everyone again," Rumplestiltskin clarified, feeling Zoso's anger practically burning through his back. He ignored him. "Besides, I'm bored, and I like dancing, so why not?"

Jefferson's eyes gleamed with excitement. "That," he said, "Is a wonderful idea. And it could be a surprise for the others."

Killian nodded, smirking, "A secret between friends then, when shall we meet, mate?"

Rumplestiltskin grinned, "Tommorrow, meet me at my castle, we can discuss the details of our little . . . outing then."


End file.
